DRESDEN, Germany – A change of style or medium can be a career killer for an artist. Be an impressionist one day and an expressionist the next, or switch from painting to sculpture? Critics and the general public won’t know what to think.
But two of Germany’s best-known contemporary artists have built their careers on new ideas. Gerhard Richter and Günther Uecker, now in their 80s, have thrived on a palette of change. Contrary to killing their careers, their work is highly sought after and their prices only climb. Richter and Uecker’s work can be viewed in two new exhibits this year.
The Albertinium, part of the Staatliche Kunstsammlung Dresden, has had two rooms devoted to hometown son Gerhard Richter since 2004. These were recently updated by the artist. The Kunstsammlung is also keeper of the Gerhard Richter Archives, a cache of catalogs, correspondence and photographs. This documentation of Richter’s career is especially important because of his chameleon-like way of moving among different styles and media. The sheer volume of his work in realistic and abstract paintings and prints, a type of paper and photo documentation he calls “Atlas,” photographs, artist books, sculpture and installation work, and even film, is astounding.
Richter’s work has been called “Capitalist Realism,” which amuses him. The moniker comes from a happening he created with artist Konrad Lueg in 1963. Richter had just defected from East Germany in 1961 where Socialist Realism prevailed, and decided “Manifesto of Capitalist Realism” would be a fitting title for the event. Certainly he has been commercially successful, setting auction record prices for a painting by a living artist in 2012 at $34 million (31 million euros); topped in 2013 at $37.1 million (33.9 million euros); and recently exceeded that in February, 2015, when one of his abstract paintings sold for $45.2 million (41.3 million euros) at Sotheby’s, London.
Visitors to the Albertinium can now enjoy four new large abstract paintings by Richter Abstrakten Bilder (937/1-4). They resemble mirage landscapes of striated gray with flashes of red and green. Their somber feeling can be traced to their inspiration: photographs taken by a Birkenau camp prisoner in 1944. The holocaust is a revisited theme for Richter. In keeping with his fascination for mirrored images, the artist has added four full-size color photographs of the works, creating a reflected image between photography and painting.
The 20-part color chart 180 Farben (1-20), 1971, is the core of Richter’s second exhibit room. Other new additions at the Albertinium include his daughter’s portrait, Ella, 2014, and the still life Tulips, 1995. Richter’s new exhibit continues through September. www.SKD.Museum.
Günther Uecker’s Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfallen exhibit at the K20 Grabbeplatz, Düsseldorf, is aptly titled Mehr als nur Nägel (More Than Just Nails). It’s easy to categorize Uecker as “The Nail Painter,” he is that inseparably identified with his nail relief images. The pictures are unmistakable – a pale painted background pierced with a pattern of nails, their three-dimensional aspect playing games with light and shadow, making the pattern appear to undulate. Yet Uecker is also a sculptor and installation artist. His use of words and text in his art adds the role of poet, designer and social commentator to his repertoire.
Like Richter, Uecker fled East Germany, settling in Düsseldorf in 1953. He actualized his wish of studying with artist Otto Pankok at the Kunst Akadamie Dusseldorf. It was during 1956-57 that Uecker created his first nail picture. He began to use everyday objects, such as furniture, as his “canvas” for nail sculptures. As a member of the Zero Group, Uecker experimented with kinetic light sculpture. His Terrororchesters (Terror Orchestra) in the Kunsthalle Baden Baden was a memorably noisy installation that included 20 washing machines and reflected the banal background noise of life.
Decades worth of Uecker’s nail reliefs are on exhibit in the Klee Hall exhibit of the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfallen. This is a chance to properly experience the power of these seemingly simple works; one must walk past them to appreciate the light and perspective changes that bring them to life.
Terrororchester can be seen in the Grabbe Hall. Works with text that engage the viewer as reader include Brief an Peking (Letter to Beijing) and the Verletzungsworte (Wounding Words). In Sandmühle (Sand Mill) a rope rake perpetually spirals through a circle of sand. The simple materials and easy motion impart a universal message on the passage of time. But, as Uecker says,“Where language fails, the image begins.” With Uecker, you need to be present to receive the whole message. His work will be on view through May. www.KunstSammlung.de .
Upcoming Auctions:
Henry’s Auktionshaus, Mutterstadt
April 10 – Young Timer Modern and Classic Timepieces
April 11 – Oreintal Carpets www.Henrys.de
Bassenge, Berlin
April 15 – History, Geography and Travel
April 16 – Valuable Books (Varia), Handwritten and Old Prints
April 17 – Literature of the 17th-19th Centuries, Autographs
April 18 – Modern Literature www.bassenge.com
Dr. Fischer Kunstauktionen, Heilbronn
April 16 – Russian Art & Icons www.Auctions-Fischer.de
Schwarzenbach Auktion Zurich
April 17-18 – International Postage Stamps www.SchwarzenbachAuktion.ch
Auction Team Breker, Cologne
April 18 – Technological Firsts www.Breker.com
Galerie Widmer, St. Gallen
April 24 – Important works of various artists in the new auction rooms in St.Gallen. Work by Cuno Amiet, Philipp Bauknecht, Rudolf Belling, Max Bill, Martha Cunz, Ignaz Epper, Max Gubler, Ferdinand Gehr, Carl August and Carl Walter Liner, Albert Manser, Italo Valenti, Johannes Zülle and vielen mehr. www.GalerieWidmer.com
Winterberg Kunst, Heidelberg
April 25 – Comtemporary Art www.Winterberg-Kunst.de
Dobiaschofsky, Bern
May 6-9 – Spring Auction www.Dobiaschofsky.com
Van Ham Kunstauktionen, Cologne
May 15 – Jewelry and Watches, Art
May 16 – European Arts & Crafts www.Van-Ham.com
Koller Auktionen, Zurich
May 13 – Style, Luxury & Vintage; Wine www.KollerAuktionen.ch
