Gerhard Richter's Betty - a conversation piece.
If this exercise in formal analysis seems difficult with a painting like Gray Mirror, perhaps looking at one of Richter’s photo-based paintings will be more helpful. One of his most famous works, Betty, is a rather small (for Richter) photo painting of the same year (see Plate 4).It is roughly of human scale, and shows a close-up of a girl sitting as if on the floor.They are symbolically reminiscent of the famous 1988 painting by Gerhard Richter, Betty, - a romantic but powerful portrayal of his daughter looking out of the frame and into time itself. Like Rahbars work, Betty, is adorned by a richly embroidered jacket that becomes as important as the mystery of the averted gaze.. The following essay is a.Measuring 102cm x 72cm, the canvas is a portrait of Gerhard Richter’s daughter Betty from a photo taken 10 years before the artist painted it.
With a career spanning nearly six decades, Gerhard Richter is widely considered one of the greatest artists of our time. To explore the artist's work and life, click on an image below.In the mid-1970s, Gerhard Richter began making large, colorful, tactile abstract paintings whose sketchy, rough, and blurry effects make us aware of the tools and techniques used and the complicated pictorial thinking involved. These paintings have been described as “gestural” or “painterly,” although Richter refers to them as his “Abstracts,” and they now constitute the largest.
Gerhard Richter, Betty, 1988, oil on canvas, 102 x 72cm (Saint Louis Art Museum).
