Sel

ecte

d Bib

liog

rap

hy

Ger

hard

Ric

hter

. Lon

don

: Tat

e G

alle

ry,

1991

. Tex

ts b

y N

eal

Asc

hers

on, S

tefa

n

Ger

mer

, an

d Se

an R

ainb

ird.

Ger

hard

Ric

hter

. 3 v

ols.

Bon

n: K

unst

­

und

Aus

tellu

ngsh

alle

der

Bun

desr

epub

lik

Deu

tsch

land

, 19

93. T

exts

by

Ben

jam

in

H.D

. Buc

hloh

, Pet

er G

idal

, and

Bir

git

Pelz

er.

Ger

hard

Ric

hter

: Atl

as. M

unic

h:

Stlid

tisch

e G

aler

ie i

n L

enba

chha

us a

nd

Mus

eum

Lud

wig

, C

olog

ne,

1990

. Tex

t by

Arm

inZ

wei

te.

Par

kett

35

(199

3). "

Ger

hard

Ric

hter

Col

labo

ratio

n."

Tex

ts b

y Je

an-P

ierr

e

Cri

qui,

Pete

r G

idal

, Dav

e H

icke

y, G

ertr

ude

Koc

h, B

irgi

t Pel

zer.

Die

tric

h, D

orot

hea

. "G

erha

rd R

icht

er: A

n

Inte

rvie

w,"

The

Pri

nt C

olle

ctor

's

New

slet

ter

16, n

o. 4

(S

eptJ

Oct

. 19

85),

pp.

128-

32.

"Ger

hard

Ric

hter

/Jan

Tho

rn-P

rikk

er:

Rum

inat

ions

on

the

Oct

ober

18,

197

7

Cyc

le,"

Par

kett

19

(198

9),

pp.

143-

53.

Ger

hard

Ric

hter

was

bor

n in

Dre

sden

in

1932

. He

stud

ied

at th

e K

unst

akad

emie

in

Dre

sden

bet

wee

n 19

51 a

nd 1

956

befo

re m

ovin

g to

Diis

seld

orf

in 1

961.

Ove

r th

e ne

xt t

wo

year

s he

com

plet

ed h

is s

tudi

es a

t the

Diis

seld

orf

Kun

stak

adem

ie, w

here

he

has

been

Prof

esso

r si

nce

1971

. In

addi

tion

to p

artic

ipat

ing

wid

ely

in g

roup

sho

ws,

Ric

hter

has

had

num

erou

s on

e-pe

rson

exh

ibiti

ons

. In

1993

-94

, the

fou

rth

maj

or r

etro

spec

tive

of h

is w

ork

to d

ate

trav

eled

thr

ough

out

Eur

ope

.

Maj

or f

undi

ng f

or t

his

exhi

bitio

n ha

s be

en p

rovi

ded

by t

he L

anna

n Fo

unda

tion,

with

addi

tiona

l ge

nero

us s

uppo

rt f

rom

: L

ufth

ansa

Ger

man

Air

lines

; D

oris

and

Don

Fis

her;

Mim

i an

d Pe

ter

Haa

s; L

inda

and

Har

ry M

ackl

owe;

Ann

Ten

enba

um a

nd T

hom

as H

. Lee

;

and

the

mem

bers

of

the

Dia

Art

Cou

ncil

and

Art

Cir

cle.

Tha

nks

to R

aina

ld S

chum

ache

r fo

r hi

s as

sist

ance

on

the

proj

ect.

~

>--

--

I

Sit

e Map

earli

est

mos

t re

cent

pane

ls

pane

ls

'----

(c.

1995

) (c

. 19

64)

pane

ls f

rom

197

0s a

nd s

os

Atl

as, c

. 19

64-1

995

583

pane

ls

>--

--

each

pan

el 2

61 /.

i x 2

0\4

or 2

01,t.

i x l 4

Y2

Col

lect

ion

Diir

ckhe

im, G

erm

any

GE

RH

AR

D

RIC

HT

ER

Atl

as

1111

1 H

I I

11'

• , ...

I ~.I

rm

• I

•"

1§.!

•

,, ·1

\

I J

-L.

~ W

I• t~

E!~

-...-

.: .: :

II

... ••

I!"·

~

•a•

• x ~ ~ c:l

-s'

c:l

~ --

-~ " :, _g

"-

( \; (

Ap

ril 2

7, 1

995-

Sp

rin

g 1996

548 W

est 2

2nd

Str

eet,

New

Yo

rk C

ity

GE

RH

AR

D

RIC

HT

ER

Atl

as In

my

pict

ure

atla

s .. ./

can

onl

y ge

t a

hand

le o

n th

e fl

ood

of p

ictu

res

by

crea

ting

ord

er s

ince

the

re a

re n

o in

divi

dual

pic

ture

s at

all

any

mor

e.

-Ger

hard

R

icht

er

In 1

964

Ger

hard

Ric

hter

beg

an a

mas

sing

ont

o pa

nels

pho

togr

aphs

he

had

colle

cted

ove

r

the

prev

ious

few

yea

rs-s

omet

imes

as

pot

entia

l so

urce

s fo

r hi

s pa

intin

gs a

nd s

omet

imes

on

thei

r ow

n ac

coun

t. E

ight

yea

rs l

ater

the

se a

nd s

ubse

quen

t re

late

d pa

nels

wer

e ex

hibi

ted

in

Utr

echt

, Hol

land

, un

der

the

title

Atl

as v

an d

er J

oto

'sen

sc

hets

en (

Atl

as o

f pho

tos

and

sket

ches

). S

ince

the

n R

icht

er h

as c

ontin

ued,

alb

eit

inte

rmitt

ently

, to

sup

plem

ent

his

"pic

ture

alb

um."

' And

per

iodi

cally

it h

as b

een

retu

rned

to

publ

ic v

iew

: it

was

sho

wn

in

1976

in K

refe

ld,

1989

in M

unic

h, a

nd 1

990

in C

olog

ne.'

Rec

ently

upd

ated

, it

now

is

com

pris

ed o

f al

mos

t si

x hu

ndre

d pa

nels

and

som

e fi

ve t

hous

and

phot

ogra

phs.

Atl

as i

s no

t qui

te a

s ho

mog

eneo

us a

s its

fir

st p

anel

s se

emed

to

pred

ict.

Whi

le t

hey

cont

ain

mos

tly a

mat

eur

snap

shot

s to

geth

er w

ith r

epro

duct

ions

fro

m n

ewsp

aper

s an

d po

pula

r

mag

azin

es,

thes

e ca

tego

ries

wer

e ra

pidl

y ex

pand

ed t

o in

clud

e po

rtra

its,

porn

ogra

phic

imag

ery,

and

pic

ture

s of

fam

ous

hist

oric

al f

igur

es a

nd e

vent

s-H

itler

and

con

cent

ratio

n

cam

p su

rviv

ors

amon

g th

em.

In a

dditi

on,

the

artis

t's o

wn

phot

ogra

phs,

wor

king

ske

tche

s,

and

seem

ingl

y ca

sual

vie

ws

and

vist

as s

oon

infi

ltrat

ed t

he in

crea

sing

ly h

eter

ogen

ous

arra

y.

Tha

t Atl

as w

ould

ser

ve o

ther

fun

ctio

ns t

han

sim

ply

thos

e of

a r

epos

itory

for

sto

ring

mem

orab

le i

mag

es b

ecam

e ev

iden

t w

hen

sket

ches

for

ins

talla

tions

, pl

ans

for

publ

ic

com

mis

sion

s, t

echn

ical

dra

win

gs f

or d

omes

tic f

urni

shin

gs,

and

colla

ges

of h

ypot

hetic

al

setti

ngs

on a

trul

y m

onum

enta

l sc

ale

wer

e ad

ded.

3 M

ore

rece

ntly

, la

rge

sequ

ence

s of

alm

ost

seri

ally

pro

duce

d la

ndsc

apes

, tr

avel

vis

tas,

and

stil

l lif

es h

ave

been

inc

orpo

rate

d,

sugg

estin

g th

at o

nce

the

piec

e gr

ew,

the

artis

t be

gan

to o

rche

stra

te i

t in

term

s of

an

over

all

com

posi

tion,

est

ablis

hing

lar

ger

rhyt

hms,

con

junc

tions

, an

d re

fere

nces

am

ong

the

part

s,

and

inst

itutin

g a

mor

e st

rict

ly g

ridd

ed l

ayou

t. T

hat

is, w

hat

initi

ally

had

a c

ontin

gent

,

impr

ovis

atio

nal,

cum

ulat

ive

char

acte

r ha

s ta

ken

on, w

ith t

ime

and

with

rep

eate

d pu

blic

pres

enta

tion,

a c

erta

in i

nter

nal

logi

c an

d dy

nam

ic p

ecul

iar

to i

tsel

f. I

n th

is w

ay a

n al

bum

has

met

amor

phos

ed i

nto

a po

tent

ially

enc

yclo

pedi

c pr

ojec

t, no

twith

stan

ding

the

per

sona

l,

prov

isio

nal,

and

incr

emen

tal

impu

lses

con

tinui

ng t

o ge

nera

te i

t.

It is

app

osite

tha

t ph

otog

raph

y is

the

pivo

t of

this

, th

e m

ost

exte

nsiv

e w

ork

in R

icht

er's

oeuv

re.

A c

onst

ant

in h

is a

rt o

f th

e pa

st t

hree

dec

ades

, for

him

it h

as a

lway

s ha

d a

dial

ectic

al r

elat

ions

hip

with

pai

ntin

g. G

iven

tha

t que

stio

ns o

f re

pres

enta

tion

lie a

t the

hea

rt

of R

icht

er's

ent

erpr

ise,

thi

s re

latio

nshi

p ha

s in

evita

bly

prov

en a

shi

ftin

g, m

utat

ing

one­

from

the

ear

ly s

ixtie

s w

hen

phot

ogra

phy

prov

ided

mot

ifs

for

pain

tings

to

the

past

dec

ade

whe

n th

e ar

tist

has

both

ove

rpai

nted

pho

togr

aphs

and

exh

ibite

d as

pri

nts

phot

ogra

phs

of

r ~

(

cert

ain

pain

tings

ori

gina

lly g

ener

ated

by

reph

otog

raph

ed p

hoto

grap

hs.

Dav

e H

icke

y ha

s

pers

uasi

vely

arg

ued

agai

nst

the

cano

nica

l hi

stor

ical

rat

iona

le f

or t

he c

hang

es t

hat

took

plac

e in

the

prac

tice

of p

aint

ing

afte

r th

e ad

vent

of

phot

ogra

phy:

nam

ely,

tha

t pa

intin

g

chan

ged

beca

use

phot

ogra

phy

appr

opri

ated

its

des

crip

tive

and

repr

esen

tatio

nal

func

tions

.

"Ric

hter

's p

hoto

-pai

ntin

gs i

nfer

," H

icke

y ar

gues

, " .

.. [th

at]

pain

ting

chan

ged

afte

r th

e

adve

nt o

f ph

otog

raph

y no

t bec

ause

pho

togr

aphy

usu

rped

its

des

crip

tive

func

tion,

but

beca

use

phot

ogra

phy

prio

riti

zed

it, th

us v

alor

izin

g th

e re

fere

nt o

ver

wha

t it

sign

ifie

d."

4

If ph

otog

raph

y pr

ovid

ed t

he p

aint

er, f

aced

with

the

que

stio

n of

wha

t to

pai

nt,

with

cer

tain

basi

cs,

abst

ract

ion

offe

red

anot

her

set o

f po

ssib

ilitie

s th

at w

ere,

for

Ric

hter

, eq

ually

but

not

nece

ssar

ily m

ore

plau

sibl

e; a

bstr

actio

n an

d fi

gura

tion,

he

belie

ves,

hav

e pa

ralle

l st

atus

as p

ictu

res.

Thr

ough

rec

ours

e to

mir

rors

, pa

nes

of g

lass

, an

d sm

all

refl

ectiv

e al

umin

um

sphe

res,

Ric

hter

the

n fu

rthe

r pe

rmut

ated

thi

s pr

eocc

upat

ion

with

rep

rese

ntat

ion

by

wed

ding

the

se w

orks

to

thei

r co

ntex

ts.

Inco

rpor

atin

g th

e su

rrou

ndin

gs-i

n ef

fect

, an

idio

sync

ratic

mod

e of

wor

king

in

situ

-all

owed

hi

m t

o ex

tend

in

mor

e en

com

pass

ing

way

s

the

dial

ectic

bet

wee

n w

hat

is s

een

and

wha

t is

rep

rese

nted

, as

wel

l as

the

med

ia o

f th

at

repr

esen

tatio

n.

Ric

hter

has

fre

quen

tly a

sser

ted

that

he

has

no p

rogr

am a

nd n

o id

eolo

gy, a

nd t

hat

he

proc

eeds

acc

ordi

ng t

o no

pre

conc

eive

d pl

an. F

or a

ll its

com

pend

ious

nat

ure,

Atl

as i

s

gove

rned

by

no o

verr

idin

g lo

gic

and

no p

olem

ic.

Unl

ike,

for

exa

mpl

e, B

ernd

and

Hill

a

Bec

hers

's

proj

ects

, A

tlas

is

not

an a

rchi

ve:

ther

e is

nei

ther

a c

oher

ent

and

syst

emat

ic

com

pila

tion

of a

n id

entif

iabl

e bo

dy o

f m

ater

ial

nor

an a

rcha

eolo

gica

l ex

haus

tion

of a

spec

ific

sub

ject

. In

ret

aini

ng a

hyb

rid

iden

tity,

Atl

as l

oose

ly a

dher

es t

o so

me

of th

e

preo

ccup

atio

ns i

nfor

min

g R

icht

er's

pai

ntin

gs w

ithou

t be

ing

excl

usiv

ely

gove

rned

by

them

.

Mos

t of

its

rec

ent

com

pone

nts

are

phot

ogra

phs

take

n by

the

art

ist

him

self

rat

her

than

imag

es c

ulle

d fr

om p

ublis

hed

sour

ces,

cor

resp

ondi

ng t

o th

e fa

ct t

hat

sinc

e 19

75 R

icht

er

has

seld

om d

epen

ded

on f

ound

mot

ifs

for

subj

ect

mat

ter.

Not

onl

y ar

e th

e in

itial

im

ages

now

his

ow

n, b

ut th

ey a

re o

ften

mad

e in

clo

sely

rel

ated

ser

ies

or s

eque

nces

. Non

ethe

less

,

thos

e th

at h

ave

been

ret

rosp

ectiv

ely

incl

uded

in

Atl

as d

o no

t ne

cess

arily

con

stitu

te a

ll th

at

the

artis

t to

ok o

f an

y pa

rtic

ular

mot

if,

nor

are

they

alw

ays

the

very

one

s th

at p

rovi

ded

the

mod

els

for

indi

vidu

al p

aint

ings

. Im

ages

onl

y ex

cept

iona

lly s

tand

alo

ne,

inde

pend

ent

and

icon

ic; o

n su

ch o

ccas

ions

the

y ar

e fr

amed

with

in p

enci

l bo

rder

s as

with

pre

sent

atio

n

draw

ings

, co

ntex

tual

ized

in

hypo

thet

ical

ins

talla

tions

, or

mas

ked

and

glue

d to

she

ets

onto

whi

ch c

olor

stu

dies

can

be

deve

lope

d in

pre

para

tion

for

pain

ting

. The

rel

atio

nal

char

acte

r

of t

he g

roup

ings

with

in m

ost

of th

e pa

nels

is

fully

in

acco

rd w

ith t

he c

ontin

genc

y

unde

rpin

ning

the

pre

sent

atio

n of

the

wor

k as

a w

hole

. Fo

r, t

he a

rran

gem

ent

of t

he p

anel

s

follo

ws

a lo

ose

rath

er t

han

stri

ct c

hron

olog

y, w

ith p

lace

men

t de

term

ined

in

part

by

the

char

acte

r of

the

venu

es-w

all

dim

ensi

ons

, hei

ghts

, an

d pr

opor

tions

-in

whi

ch A

tlas

is

to

be e

xhib

ited

. Seq

uenc

ing

and

grou

ping

is

thus

em

ploy

ed t

o es

tabl

ish

a m

ode

of r

eadi

ng

that

is

diff

eren

tial

and

cont

extu

al.

Face

d w

ith t

he m

ass

of i

mag

ery

avai

labl

e to

day,

Ric

hter

ass

erts

tha

t al

l one

can

do

is tr

y

to o

rder

it.

He

mak

es n

o at

tem

pt t

o of

fer

an o

verr

idin

g in

terp

reta

tion

, the

re i

s no

pro

mis

e

of c

ompr

ehen

sibi

lity

and

defi

nitiv

enes

s of

the

kind

vou

chsa

fed

in a

n ar

chiv

e or

by

arch

aeol

ogy.

As

Ben

jam

in B

uchl

oh a

stut

ely

note

s, th

e re

latio

nshi

ps b

etw

een

the

imag

es

"gen

erat

e m

eani

ngs

and

disi

nteg

rate

rea

ding

s."

' Hen

ce,

som

ethi

ng p

rovi

sion

al a

nd

resi

stan

t to

pre

cise

mea

ning

em

erge

s in

Atl

as,

som

ethi

ng w

hich

Buc

hloh

elo

quen

tly

char

acte

rize

s as

a c

heck

bot

h ag

ains

t th

e im

puls

e to

gen

erat

e un

ders

tand

ing

and

the

ever

­

pres

ent

desi

re f

or i

t. A

tlas

hov

ers,

the

refo

re, b

etw

een

the

prom

ise

of ta

xono

mic

ord

er a

s

devu

lged

in

the

arch

ive

and

the

tota

l de

vast

atio

n of

that

pro

mis

e, w

hich

is

impl

icit

, for

exam

ple,

in

the

amor

cella

ted,

ant

irel

atio

nal

pote

ntia

l of

pho

tom

onta

ge.

The

im

ages

,

frag

men

ts o

r de

tails

are

com

mon

plac

e, a

lmos

t st

ereo

typi

cal.

In th

eir

shee

r or

dina

rine

ss,

conv

entio

nalit

y, a

nd u

biqu

ity,

man

y of

thes

e ph

otog

raph

s se

em a

lmos

t in

terc

hang

eabl

e or

gene

ric,

and

hen

ce s

erve

to

unde

rpla

y th

ose

stap

les

of p

hoto

grap

hic

disc

ours

e: t

he p

hoto

as i

con

and

the

phot

o as

ind

ex. T

hey

appr

oach

the

con

ditio

n R

icht

er s

eeks

for

his

pain

tings

, w

hich

as

pict

ures

are

loc

ated

alw

ays

betw

een

the

conc

rete

and

the

abs

trac

t.

Buc

hloh

arg

ues

pers

uasi

vely

tha

t "W

e ca

n no

long

er s

peak

of

'pho

togr

aphy

' in

term

s of

a

hom

ogen

eous

for

mat

ion

of p

ract

ices

, di

scou

rses

, an

d in

stitu

tions

(no

mor

e th

an w

e co

uld

spea

k of

'pol

itics

').

Phot

ogra

phy

can

be d

iscu

ssed

as

a pr

ivat

e ph

enom

enol

ogy

and

as a

part

ial

sem

iotic

s, b

ut n

ot a

s a

cohe

rent

, co

mpr

ehen

sive

his

tory

."6

At

a m

omen

t w

hen

the

digi

tal

is r

epla

cing

the

ana

logu

e an

d th

e do

min

ant

para

digm

s of

pho

togr

aphy

are

unde

rgoi

ng a

sea

-cha

nge,

Atl

as r

etur

ns t

he q

uest

ion

of th

e re

fere

nt t

o ce

nter

stag

e.

I. "

Ger

hard

Ric

hter

/Jan

Tho

m-P

rikk

er:

Rum

inat

ions

on

the

Oct

ober

18

, 19

77 C

ycle

,"

Par

kett

19

(198

9), p

. 14

3.

2. S

mal

l se

ctio

ns o

f Atl

as h

ave

been

sho

wn

on

occa

sion

, for

exa

mpl

e, i

n th

e re

cent

ret

rosp

ec­

tive,

"G

erha

rd R

icht

er,"

Kun

st-

und

Aus

tellu

ngsh

alle

der

Bun

desr

epub

lik

Deu

tsch

land

, B

onn

, 19

93.

3. I

n a

rece

nt i

nter

view

, Ric

hter

spo

ke o

f th

e

"dre

am o

f m

ine-

that

the

pic

ture

s w

ill b

ecom

e

an e

nvir

onm

ent

or b

ecom

e ar

chite

ctur

e, t

hat

wou

ld b

e ev

en m

ore

effe

ctiv

e."

Quo

ted

in

L. C

.

Dor

othe

a D

ietr

ich

, "G

erha

rd R

icht

er:

An

Inte

rvie

w,"

The

Pri

nt C

olle

ctor

's N

ewsl

ette

r 16

,

no. 4

(Se

pt./O

ct.

1985

), p

. 13

0. In

eff

ect

Atl

as

does

thi

s w

hen

fully

on

view

.

4. D

ave

Hic

key

, "R

icht

er i

n T

ahiti

," P

arke

tt 3

5

(199

3),

p. 8

6.

5. B

enja

min

H.

D. B

uchl

oh, "

Ger

hard

Ric

hter

s

Atl

as:

Das

Arc

hiv

der

Ano

mie

," G

erha

rd R

icht

er,

vol.

2 (B

onn:

Kun

st-

und

Aus

tellu

ngsh

alle

de

r

Bun

desr

epub

lik

Deu

tsch

land

, 19

93).

Tra

nsla

tion

by B

enja

min

H. D

. Buc

hloh

.

6. I

bid.