Gerhard Richter

Gerhard Richter “Atlas”
Kunstbau
October 23, 2013 – February 9, 2014

In 2013, Gerhard Richter will complete the “Atlas” on which he has worked since 1962 by adding a final series of new plates. This magnum opus traces Richter’s entire artistic career and constitutes a compendium of his visual ideas. The “Atlas” comprises photographs, newspaper clippings, sketches, and collages that provide multifaceted insight into the artist’s practice. The pictorial motifs reflect facts of his life and art as well as history and illustrate the major stages of his oeuvre. The “Atlas” also reveals visual ideas the artist engaged with but found unsuitable for implementation in paintings or other large works. Like a gigantic sketchbook, the “Atlas” brings together a wide variety of approaches that demonstrate the conceptual nature of Gerhard Richter’s art.
The Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus acquired the “Atlas” in 1996. It is now one of the most important items in our collection of contemporary art.