Lichtung (Clearing) presents a densely layered composition of abstracted natural forms rendered in muted earth tones, vibrant greens, and luminous whites. Richter employs his characteristic photo painting technique, building the composition through a combination of photographic source material and gestural paint application, creating a tension between representational clarity and abstraction. The work suggests a forest clearing or landscape viewed through atmospheric haze, with vertical elements evoking tree trunks emerging from vegetation. Richter's squeegee marks and strategic areas of opacity obscure and reveal the underlying imagery, inviting multiple readings of the ostensibly documentary source. The painting exemplifies the artist's investigation of perception and the limits of photorealism during the 1980s.