Station (577-2) (work of art)
Artwork Info
Key Ideas
- This large-scale painting is an example of abstract art. It is over eight feet tall and eight feet wide.
- Gerhard Richter is a German artist who does not stick to one particular art style. His most famous works are his abstract paintings and photorealistic paintings.
- To create this painting, Richter applied oil paint to his canvas using a homemade squeegee tool.
- Richter’s abstract paintings often feature bold paint colors and sweeping, gestural strokes that create a sense of movement.
- Much of Richter’s art incorporates his personal experiences and themes related to the impact of war.
Learn More
Gerhard Richter’s signature painting style has a gestural quality that gives his work a sense of motion. For abstract works like Station, Richter creates this effect by using a large squeegee device that he made himself. He uses this tool to drag paint across the surface of his canvas, hiding and distorting the layers of paint underneath.
Picturing things, taking a view, is what makes us human; art is making sense and giving shape to that sense.
Gerhard Richter
Richter is a German artist who is best known for both his abstract paintings and his intentionally blurry photorealistic paintings. Photorealistic paintings look like photographs of recognizable subjects. Richter moves freely between abstraction and representational art (art that is based on a subject from the real world). In addition to painting, he also creates photographs and glass works. His art often combines political commentary with the experiences he had growing up in Germany during World War II and the Holocaust.
I blur things to make everything equally important and unimportant.
Gerhard Richter
Additional Resources
Resources for Teachers
- Watch a short film about Gerhard Richter.
- Read an article about Richter’s abstract painting technique.
- Watch a video tutorial on how to create an abstract squeegee painting. (Note: Turn on closed captioning to see the English translation.)
Resources for Students
- Watch a short video of Richter creating an abstract painting.
- Read an encyclopedia entry about the artist’s life and career.
- Explore a virtual gallery of Richter’s paintings.
Images
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Station (577-2)
A large-scale, square abstract painting. It is made up of sweeping gestural strokes in bold shades of blue, red, green, and yellow.