Gerhard Richter
(b. 1932)
 

Gerhard Richter is a German visual artist. Richter has produced abstract as well as photorealistic paintings, and also photographs and glass pieces. He is widely regarded as one of the most important contemporary German artists and several of his works have set record prices at auction.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Richter

 

Abstraktes Bild [Abstract Painting]
1994
Oil on Canvas
230 x 204,8 cm
National Galleries Scotland
https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/67591

 

Richter's lusciously coloured, abstract paintings appear to be in the tradition of both American Abstract Expressionism and German expressionist painting. However, the artist undermines the heroic and emotive tendencies of these styles by painting in a detached and mechanical manner. Richter's abstract paintings relate to a series of works in which he paints images from photographs but blurs them slightly to remove the focus from their composition and subject matter. This painting has been created by dragging a board over the canvas to smear the paint and reveal the layers underneath. In other words, he 'blurs' what he himself has painted.