For Gerhard Richter (born 1932), the category of drawing covers a multitude of techniques, including graphite, ballpoint, ink, colored ink and watercolor on paper. Throughout his career, drawings have appeared in series that sometimes only consist of a few works: in the 1960s, representational and mechanical drawings from projected photographs; in the 1970s, abstract drawings; in the 1980s, drawings of people and objects; and in the 1990s, both figurative and abstract ink drawings. Nonetheless, Richter notoriously once expressed disdain for drawing's vaunted guarantee of authenticity and virtuosity--in part from his insistent and complete commitment to painting. Drawing therefore sits at a fascinating angle to his painting, and provides an arena for aspects of his thinking that rarely surface in his painting. Lines Which Do Not Exist was published for the artist's Fall 2010 exhibition at The Drawing Center in New York--his first overview in a public institution in New York since 40 Years of Painting at The Museum of Modern Art (2002). It presents more than 50 color reproductions of graphite, watercolor and ink on paper drawings made by Richter over a period of five decades, from 1966 to 2005.
Featured image is reproduced from Gerhard Richter: Lines Which Do Not Exist.
"Richter's frustrations with drawing did prompt a number of strategies in the 1960s, '70s, and '80s for exploring drawing's origins. For example, in 1966 he created a drawing by fitting a pencil instead of a drill bit into a drill, which he then moved back and forth across a page, allowing the uncontrolled rotation of the pencil to create erratic curling lines against the paper. This curiously senseless act was an attempt to reject the loaded concept of the artist's touch. Its allure for Richter lay in the abstract, meandering appearance of the drawing combined with its self-referentiality. Richter also made practical discoveries. For instance by carrying out studies and working and diagrammatic drawings. Principally functional, these drawing describe the installation of works using a graphic language. They not only hold a technical function but, as Richter recognized, they could also be regarded as drawings in their own right."
FORMAT: Pbk, 6 x 9 in. / 120 pgs / 59 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $25.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $30 ISBN: 9780942324624 PUBLISHER: The Drawing Center AVAILABLE: 4/30/2011 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of print AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: WORLD
Published by The Drawing Center. Text by Gavin Delahunty.
For Gerhard Richter (born 1932), the category of drawing covers a multitude of techniques, including graphite, ballpoint, ink, colored ink and watercolor on paper. Throughout his career, drawings have appeared in series that sometimes only consist of a few works: in the 1960s, representational and mechanical drawings from projected photographs; in the 1970s, abstract drawings; in the 1980s, drawings of people and objects; and in the 1990s, both figurative and abstract ink drawings. Nonetheless, Richter notoriously once expressed disdain for drawing's vaunted guarantee of authenticity and virtuosity--in part from his insistent and complete commitment to painting. Drawing therefore sits at a fascinating angle to his painting, and provides an arena for aspects of his thinking that rarely surface in his painting. Lines Which Do Not Exist was published for the artist's Fall 2010 exhibition at The Drawing Center in New York--his first overview in a public institution in New York since 40 Years of Painting at The Museum of Modern Art (2002). It presents more than 50 color reproductions of graphite, watercolor and ink on paper drawings made by Richter over a period of five decades, from 1966 to 2005.
