Gerhard Richter (b. 1932) Abstraktes Bild.  Photo: Christie's Images Ltd., 2010

signed, numbered and dated 'Richter 1986 611-3' (on the reverse) oil on canvas, 79 x 63in. (200.7 x 160cm.) Painted in 1986. Estimate £1,500,000 - £2,500,000 Price Realized £2,393,250

Provenance: Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich.
Cecile and Walter Bareiss Collection, Munich.
Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich.
Thomas Olbricht Collection, Essen.
Anon. sale, Christie's New York, 13 November 2002, lot 67.
James Cohan Gallery, New York.

Literature: B. Buchloh (ed.), Gerhard Richter, Werkübersicht/Catalogue Raisonné 1962-1993, Osterfilden-Ruit, 1993, vol. III, no. 611-3, p. 180.

Notes: This work will be included in the forthcoming Gerhard Richter catalogue raisonné, edited by the Gerhard Richter Archiv Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden.

'A picture like this is painted in different layers, separated by intervals of time. The first layer mostly represents the background, which has a photographic, illusionistic look to it, though done without using a photograph. This first, smooth, soft-edged paint surface is like a finished picture; but after a while I decide that I understand it or have seen enough of it, and in the next stage of painting I partly destroy it, partly add to it; and so it goes on at intervals, till there is nothing more to do and the picture is finished. By then it is a Something which I understand in the same way it confronts me, as both incomprehensible and self-sufficient. An attempt to jump over my own shadow...
'At that stage the whole thing looks very spontaneous. But in between there are usually long intervals of time, and those destroy a mood. It is a highly planned kind of spontaneity'
(Richter, 1984, quoted in H.-U. Obrist (ed.), Gerhard Richter: The Daily Practice of Painting. Writings and Interviews 1962-1993, London, 1995, p. 112).

Gerhard Richter (b. 1932) Heu (Hay). Photo: Christie's Images Ltd., 2010

signed, numbered and dated '831-1 Richter 1995' (on the reverse) oil on canvas, 78¾ x 55 1/8in. (200 x 140cm.) Painted in 1995  Estimate £1,200,000 - £1,800,000 Price Realized £1,385,250

Provenance: Marian Goodman Gallery, New York.
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1997.

Literature: Gerhard Richter 1998, exh. cat., London, Anthony d'Offay Gallery, 1998, no. 831-1 (illustrated in colour, unpaged).
Gerhard Richter Werkverzeichnis 1993-2004, exh. cat. Dusseldorf, K20 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, 2005, no. 831-1 (illustrated in colour, unpaged).

Exhibited: Nîmes, Carré d'Art, Musée d'Art Contemporain, Gerhard Richter-100 Pictures, June-September 1996, no. 831-1 (illustrated in colour, p. 112).

Notes: This work will be included in the forthcoming Gerhard Richter Catalogue Raisonné, edited by the Gerhard Richter Archiv Staatliche Kunstsammlunger Dresden.

Christie's. Post War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction. 30 June 2010. London, King Street www.christies.com