Gerhard Richter

In his life’s work, Gerhard Richter has consistently addressed the principle of how we see and perceive objects, moving between representation and abstraction using a variety of materials such as paintings, photographs, digital prints, glass, and mirrors.

This concerns not only optical perception but also perceptions formed by a complex web of aspects, including the history of art, contemporary visual culture, 20th-century Germany, the memories of the artist himself, and the viewer’s desire to see things. Published with the very first Richter show at a Tokyo museum, this volume traces his consistent but wide-ranging practices over the last 60 years, from early works to recent drawings.