About this work
Richter first painted his daughter Betty in 1977 and returned to a photograph from that period in 1988 to create one of his most iconic portraits. Betty was photographed looking up at one of her father’s grey paintings, and Richter uses the romantic rope of the figure turning away from the viewer to draw us into the work, frustrating our desire to see the subject’s face. Betty is of great personal significance to the artist, but also raises questions about the relationship of a younger generation to their elders. Betty draws our attention not to the girl, Betty, but inwards to the abstraction in the background. Betty, is a rather small (for judges). It is roughly human scale and shows a close-up of a girl sitting as if on the floor. She has her head and shoulders turned away from us and is looking almost directly behind her at a continuous grey background. One might conclude that Betty is setting up an enigmatic scenario, one that seems to ask more questions than it answers. If it shows one idea firmly, it is an idea of doubt or longing. It implies a kind of questioning that is not easily expressed in the painting itself. The work alludes to something else, a question or possibility that we cannot explain, but if we know its context and some external information, we can easily enter into a deeper conversation than the surface of the painting offers. One might hesitate to call this a spiritual painting, given all the implications the term can carry, but it seems to draw as much attention to external matters as to itself. Betty thus becomes a catalyst for us to explore questions about our own lives and experience. Richter has opened up a conversation about spiritual and moral issues without being polemical, dogmatic or serious qualities habitually shunned by the contemporary art world.
Gerhard Richter: Roses (1994). Limited art print in real wood frame. Format with frame 66 x 67 cm, sheet size 62 x 63 cm, 250g art paper, museum art glass, framed with black real wood border, limited
Gerhard Richter: “Eis II (Ice II)”, original 42 colors screen printing on Somerset Rag Papier, published by the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc., New York City. Text on bottom: „Lincoln Center / List Art Posters 40th Anniversary“. edition of 500, (450 for sale to the public) size: 114 x 87 cm. after the oil painting of the same title from 1967, Catalog Raisonné:: 706-2, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA. € 4.200.- Order here!
Gerhard Richter: ‚Fence P 13‘, 2015, diasec mounted chromogenic print laid on aluminium, numbered on the reserve, not signed, edition of 500, size: 35.5 x 27 cm / 14 x 10 5/8 in. Provenance: Fondation Beyeler, Basel. Price € 5.900,- Order here!
Gerhard Richter: “Lesende (Reader)”, offset print after the oil painting of the same title from 1994, Catalog Raisonné: 804, unsigned, picture size: 55.88 x 39,05 cm. SOLD.
Gerhard Richter:“Seestück (Seascape)”, offset print after the oil painting of the same title from 1998, Catalogue Raisonné: 852-1, printsize; 55,8 x 55,8 cm. Price 395.- Order here!
Gerhard Richter: Seascape (Seestück), 1998, Offsetprint, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. After the oil painting of the same title from 1998, Catalogue Raisonné: 852-2, size: 70 x 60 cm. Price € 190.- Order here.
Gerhard Richter: Schädel mit Kerze / Skull with candle”, offset print after the oil painting of the same name from 1983, catalog raisonné 547-2. size: 65 x 43 cm. Price € 220.- Order here.
Gerhard Richter: „Liebespaar im Wald (Lovers in the Forest)”, 1995, official poster from The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel, edition of 500, published for the exhibition: Gerhad Richter – Paintings, vom Sept. 19 – Dec. 3. 1995, offset print after the oil painting of the same title from 1966, Catalogue Raisonné: 122, prnt size: 68 x 72 cm. SOLD.
Gerhard Richter: “Party”, offsetprint, after the oil painting of the same title from 1963, Catalogue Raisonné: 2-1, print size: 60 x 80 cm. Price € 290,- Order Here!
Gerhard Richter: „Merlin”, 1991, Offset print after the oil painting of the same title from 1982, Catalogue Raisonné 519, Copyright note of the artist and the publisher, print size: 117 x 117 cm. Price 290.- Order here.
Gerhard Richter: „256 Farben (256 Colors)”, 2016/1974, Offset print after the oil painting of the same title from 1974, Catalogue Raisonné: 352-2, printsize: 76,2 x 41.2 cm.Price 220.- Order here!
Gerhard Richter, 1025 Farben / 1025 Colours,1974, Offset print after the oil painting of the same title from 1974, Catalogue Raisonné: 354, print size:117 x 122 cm. Price € 500.- Order here!
Gerhard Richter: “Quee Elisabeth I.”, offset print © Gerhard Richter 2020, after the work of the same name from 1966, catalogue raisonné WVZ: 7. Image size: 64 x 55 cm. Total size: 75 x 100 cm. Price € 320,- incl. VAT plus € 19,- for shipping, insurance, packaging. Order here!
About this print
Elizabeth I, 1966 is a photo of the former British monarch, Elizabeth II. The photo was taken from a newspaper and re-photographed by the artist. The grey in the image resembles the black and white photograph from which the piece was taken. Richter confirmed that the “I” in the title of the piece indicates that this print was the first of two versions of the same subject made at the same time.
Literature: Queensland Art o| Gallery of Modern Art, Queensland (2017), hardcover, 159 pages, ISBN 9781921503870, language English. Mentioned artwork: p. 154, Illustrated: p. 110 (coloured).
Gerhard Richter: “Skull with candle”, offset print after the oil painting of the same name from 1983, catalogue raisonné 547-2. Format: 65 x 43 cm. Price 220.- € Order here!
Gerhard Richter: Abstract painting, 1992, offset print after the oil painting of the same name from 1983, catalogue raisonné 780-2, unsigned, picture size: 43,18 x 55,80 cm, Price 295.- Order here!