Name: Abstraktes Bild (P1)
Brand: Gerhard Richter
Rating: 5 (236 reviews)

Track auction value trend

Gerhard Richter's Abstraktes Bild (P1) is a digital print from 1990, with an estimated value of £17,000 to £26,000. This artwork has shown consistent performance in the market, with an auction history of 49 total sales since its entry to the market in February 2015. The hammer price over the past five years has varied from £1,000 in November 2023 to £44,643 in September 2020. The average annual growth rate of this piece is currently at -10%. The edition size of this artwork is limited to 500.

Meaning & Analysis

Produced in 1990, Abstraktes Bild (P1) is an unsigned digital print by German artist Gerhard Richter. Part of the Abstract collection, it was issued in a limited edition of 500. Comprising an array of colours, the work foregrounds Richter’s signature approach to painterly abstraction, which he achieves via the extended use of large-scale squeegees and ‘classic’ hues of oil paint.

Instantly recognisable as an example of Richter’s work, Abstraktes Bild (P1) speaks to the complexity and diversity of the seminal German artist’s deconstructive approach to painting. Contrasting with Richter’s historical, photographic paintings, such as Elisabeth II (1966) and the world-famous 48 Portraits (1972) series, which showcase an intricate, photorealist approach to likeness, this work is characterised by looseness of touch. Leaving his practice open to the generative possibilities of error, here Richter adorns the canvas with a base of block colour; working over the space of several hours, Richter then adds – and removes – layers of other colours to reveal a dynamic, granular view of their dramatic interaction.

Like many others in the Abstract collection, this work references Richter’s strict socialist realist training, which he received at the Dresden Academy during the 1960s. Then under the aegis of East Germany’s ruling SED – or Socialist Unity Party – and within the Soviet sphere of influence, the art school was restrictive. Together with the Documenta II exhibition (1959), held in the West German city of Kassel and featuring works by Jackson Pollock and Pablo Picasso, its limitations pushed Richter to first leave East Germany, and later call for the ‘death’ of ‘painting itself’.