Oil on canvas

60.5 × 64.3 cm. 237/8 × 253/8 in.

Signed, numbered, and dated on the reverse

LITERATURE
1982, Gerhard Richter – The Abstract Paintings, H. Heere, Bielefeld, p. 14 and 20
1986, Gerhard Richter: Pictures/Paintings 1962-1985, Kunsthalle Dusseldorf, Dusseldorf, p. 211 and 389
1995, Gerhard Richter: Paintings 1964-1994 exh. cat., Hauser & Wirth, Zürich
2001, Reading Pictures - Possible Access to Gerhard Richter’s Atlas, H. Friedel, Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art, Sakura City, p. 30
2013, Gerhard Richter, Catalogue Raisonné, vol. 3: 1976-1987, D. Elger, Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern, no. 432-4, p.124
EXHIBITED
4 - 18 Jul 1978, Gerhard Richter: 17 Pictures, Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax
8 Oct - 5 Nov1978, Gerhard Richter: Abstract Paintings, Stedelijk van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven
14 Mar - 22 Apr 1979, Gerhard Richter: Abstract Paintings, Whitechapel Gallery, London
Mar - Apr 1980, Gerhard Richter, Sperone Westwater Fischer Gallery, New York
18 Apr - 16 May 1982, Abstrakte Bilder 1976 bis 1981, Mannheimer Kunstverein, Mannheim
3 Jun - 26 Jul 1982, Abstrakte Bilder 1976 bis 1981, Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
Mar 1983, Gerhard Richter, Galleria Lucio Amelio, Naples
7 Dec 1984 - 4 Jan 1985, Abstrakte Bilder 1978-1984, Galerie Bernd Lutze, Friedrichshafen
28 Oct - 23 Dec 1995, Gerhard Richter: Paintings 1964-1994, Hauser & Wirth, Zürich

PROVENANCE
Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
Galerie Bernd Lutze, Friedrichshafen
Galerie Löhrl, Mönchengladbach
Hauser & Wirth, Zürich
Private Collection of Franz Wassner, Switzerland
Hauser & Wirth, Zürich
27 June 2016, Phillips London Spring Auction, Lot 20
Important Private Collection, Asia

Note: This work is attached with two labels from Switzerland Franz Wassner Collection and two labels from Zürich Hauser & Wirth on the reverse

The Strongest Voice of the Time, the Breakthrough of Abstractionism
Abstraktes Bild 432-4, the masterpiece that unveiled the Abstraction kingdom of Gerhard Richter
Since the 1960s, Gerhard Richter has always been one of the most celebrated abstract painters in the international art scene. He is widely recognized as an abstract master who has challenged the concept of art and deconstructed mainstream painting traditions. In the past few decades, his stunning artworks were constantly renewing the records in the art market. In 2012, Richter set a record auction price for a painting sold by a living artist with his Abstraktes Bild (809-4) (1994) which went for $34 million. In 2015, his work Abstraktes Bild (599) fetched $44.5 million, exceeding the record that he set three years ago and placing him among the most expensive living artists. The New York Times honors him as the “True Art Believer” for his international influence. His “painterly” languages have posed a lasting and wild influence on global contemporary art, and he’s deemed one of the most influential artists in Europe since World War II.
Subvert the history of art and awaken the revolution of abstract painting
In the 1960s, Richter began to incorporate the photographic “blurring” technique into figurative paintings, laying the foundation for his artistic approach in between abstract paintings and photographic images. He combined different techniques including smearing, scratching and etching using various painting tools, blurring the boundaries between abstraction and figuration. After settled in Düsseldorf, he created the first Photo Painting with the help of a projector and developed the art movement which was defined as Capitalist Realism by the art historian Konrad Fischer. By incorporating found images from advertisement, he addressed Germany’s growing consumer culture and countered the mainstream idea that “photography will replace painting.” The representatives of his works during this period, such as Ausschnitt (braun) [Detail (Brown)] (1970), have awakened “painting” as art with independent thinking and experimental visual presentation, redirecting the Western art history.
Open a new door to the academic achievement of a museum level
From 1976 to 1980, Richter entered a critical transition of abstract painting. During this period, he started to think about new forms of painting and only completed 150 oil paintings, which was the least productive time among his artistic career. In 2012, Nicholas Serota, the then director of Tate, gave a talk entitled “Opening a New Door” at the symposium “Panorama: New Perspectives on Richter”, held at Tate Modern, and addressed the Richter’s abstract paintings of the second half of the 1970s which remarked a crucial transformation of the artist. He pointed out that “(this period) determined the direction of this pioneering artist’s future career, transforming him into an abstract painter in the true sense.” The present work, Abstraktes Bild 432-4, is a representative of this critical period, which has witnessed a new chapter of Richter’s artistic path, bearing significant academic values.
At its completion, the painting was exhibited in Gerhard Richter: 17 Pictures, held by Anna Leonowens Gallery in Canada, as a manifesto of the artist and a cornerstone of his academic achievements. It was later exhibited in London, New York, Munich, Naples, and Zurich successively as a representative of the abstract paintings from 1976 to 1981. In the early 1990s, it was collected by the Franz Wassner family, the most prominent contemporary art collector in Switzerland and a principal promoter of Swiss contemporary art. The Wassners also compiled and published the first catalog of the Swiss legendary installation master Dieter Roth. Moreover, Abstraktes Bild 432-4 was included not only in the complete works of Richter but also in academic literature, such as Gerhard Richter – The Abstract Paintings by H. Heere. The illustrious history of forty years has fully presented its significance in art history. Its debut in Guardian in this spring is an opportunity not to miss.
The painting emerged from paintings
In 1976, Richter started to use Abstraktes Bild to name his works created through a new approach and hard to explain in words. He painted large expanses of monochromatic colors on the canvas, in different patterns, textures, surfaces, and techniques. In the summer of 1978, Richter began to paint without any evident logic in the limited canvas surface. He deliberately extended the brush strokes to increase the pictorial complexity and compiled these pictures in digital form. Then he enlarged them and combined details from different paintings into new pictures, which was then transferred onto the canvas, creating an entirely different visual language and opening a new door for abstract art.
In Abstraktes Bild 432-4, the colors and strokes are greatly differentiated from other works of the same period. The bold brushstrokes at the center continued the technique that Richter created in the early 1970s, while the flattened color areas of yellow, dark red and olive green at two side are applied with the scratching technique evident in his later creations. Such a combination is rarely seen in his works, marking the advent of a revolution of abstract art.
Richter believes that the sketches recorded by the camera are only the raw material for painting, and the real art lies in the process of Blow-up and recombination. In Abstraktes Bild 432-4, the concept of “blow up” is further illustrated. The multiple layers of pigments hidden beneath the surface present the sketch at its most enlargement, and the mixture of red, black and green colors has created an eye-catching visual effect, forming a resonance with the viewer’s perceptions.
The classic painting that recorded the image of an era
Abstraktes Bild 432-4 is also a painting crucial for the artist himself. The sketches that Richter created to record the composition process were collected in, Atlas series, the most important experiment in the creation of Richter’s photo paintings, as Sheet 411. The largest-scale collection of Richter has been continued to date since the mid-1960s, with more than 4,000 photos and 600 categories. Since its first exhibition in the Venice Biennale in 1972, Atlas has been exhibited in documenta in Kassel several times, winning the Oscar Kokoschka Award and quickly causing a sensation in the international art scene. This encyclopedic artist spectacle has not only witnessed the artist’s own time, but also revived the images that accompanied the tide of consumer culture, and Abstraktes Bild 432-4, contributed an essential part of this masterpiece.

Price estimate:
HKD: 4,000,000 - 5,000,000
USD: 512,800 - 641,000

Auction Result:
HKD: 4,720,000