Gerhard Richter
Gerhard Richter, born 1932 in Dresden, is internationally regarded as one of the most important German painters. His works are widely recognized around the world and have now top prices.
Richter paints in a photographic style. Experts speak of "painted photography". The contrasts between light and shadow, sharpness and blur give rise to visual impressions that have never before existed in painting.
In the spring of 2002, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, dedicated a major retrospective special exhibition to his 70th birthday, a one-man show that was reported worldwide.
In 2011, his oil painting "Candle" from 1982 was sold at an auction of a major auction house just under 12 million euros. The painting is part of a series that Richter painted in his slightly fuzzy, photo-realistic style in the early 1980s. It is considered a symbol for the silent protest of the GDR citizens against the socialist regime and became one of Richter's best-known motives.
By the way, the most important private collector of Gerhard Richter is the
British musician Eric Clapton with over 50 works. Richter is the most expensive of a living artist. The canvas "Abstract Picture" from 1986 hit 41 million euros at Sotheby's. And even the graphic works of Richter are partly traded in the six-digit range.