Known as an "art chameleon" for his facility with several media, Richter has produced one of the most versatile bodies of art of the past century. The new retrospective is a testament to that versatility, with over 110 paintings and sculptures, many of them never before presented to the public.

But Richter’s central exploration has always been of the paint medium: Is a painting a gateway or a mirror to our world? Recognizing that Richter has never been one to create art that fits in just one category, the museum’s display of Richter’s paintings presents works reflecting many styles, from representative works inspired by photographs to his pop art from the 1960’s and the purely abstract works for which he is best known.

The highlight of these is a recent mural, a gigantic 30 by 30 feet work called "Strontium," created for the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco. Richter’s ensemble piece "Eight Grey," first presented to the public in 2002, is on loan from the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.

Richter recently gifted Dresden, his birthplace, the first permanent larger collection of his works to date. The Richter wing is housed at the New Masters Gallery of Dresden’s Albertinum.

Still the most expensive living artist in the world, Richter was recently named one of Art Review’s 20 most important people in the art world.

The Gerhard Richter retrospective in Duesseldorf is open through May 16, and will travel at the Munich Lenbachhaus from June to September before heading to Japan next year.
Republished with permission from "The Week in Germany"