
Venedig (Venice)
1986
This work depicts a landscape scene rendered through Richter's distinctive photo painting technique, where a photographic source is obscured and transformed through gestural abstraction. The composition shows a waterlogged terrain with reddish brown mud and shallow water, punctuated by vertical forms and vegetation. Overlaid on this naturalistic base are bold strokes of yellow, red, blue, and white that fragmentize and partially obscure the underlying imagery, creating a tension between representation and abstraction. The artist's squeegee technique creates areas of high transparency and opacity, allowing glimpses of the original photograph while simultaneously dismantling its legibility. This approach exemplifies Richter's exploration of painting's relationship to photography and the possibilities of abstraction within representational subject matter.
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Overall
- Spotted At
- Gallery · David Zwirner Gallery
Notes
David Zwirner, 'Landschaften', May 7 – July 10, 2026, 537 West 20th Street, New York. Curated survey of Gerhard Richter's landscape painting from 1965 to 2005. On loan from Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden.
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