Hotel Diana
Signed Print

The photographic image captures two people lying in beds, their subtle smiles indicating the awareness of the camera’s presence. Giving a glimpse into the private reality of the artist, the scene strikes with a sense of intimacy and candour. Although his artistic identity originates in abstract painting, Richter is also renowned for his experimental, genre-defying approach to photography. In the late 1960s, the artist started to base his paintings on his own photographs.

Created in 1967, Hotel Diana shows how photography as a medium allows the artist to move in the direction of the mundane subject matter and engage with the questions of memory and time. As such, the artwork captures the diverse and constantly evolving nature of Richter’s oeuvre. The artist commented in the context of his practice: “‘I do not pursue any particular intentions, system, or direction. I do not have a programme, a style, a course to follow. I have brought not being interested in specialist problems, working themes, in variations towards mystery. I shy away from all restrictions, I do not know what I want, I am inconsistent, indifferent, passive; I like things that are indeterminate and boundless, and I like persistent uncertainty”.