art
Gerhard Richter turns 90 – “I don’t need anything anymore”
The artist Gerhard Richter is celebrating his 90th birthday. Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Gerhard Richter is perhaps the most famous painter in the world. But he doesn’t act like that. He doesn’t want any attention. Not even for his 90th birthday.
Gerhard Richter turns 90 this Wednesday (February 9). Unfortunately, he doesn’t like to talk about such occasions because he basically resists any media attention.
Can you at least go so far as to say that he will celebrate in a small family circle? Yes, that is definitely correct, says the jubilee in an interview with the German Press Agency. And wishes? He has no wishes. ‘That would be embarrassing. I warned everyone: I don’t need anything more!” At the same time he laughs.
Not the painter prince type
He has everything. Gerhard Richter is considered the most highly endowed living painter in the world and can therefore fulfill every wish. Theoretically. In practice, as a very old person who is no longer quite fit, you have been largely tied to the house since the beginning of the corona pandemic. And even before that, Richter was never the type of painter prince who lets himself be celebrated, jets through the world and throws money around. Rather, he is the tireless worker who is never satisfied with himself. His art should be noticed, but please not himself. He really isn’t that interesting either. He says.
“In the past,” he sighed once years ago, “in the past, nobody was interested in me and I could paint in peace.” As his fame grew, he became more and more withdrawn. His house in the villa district of Cologne-Hahnwald is screened off by a bunker-like studio block. A protective wall against the outside world. Inside, everything is spotlessly tidy. The studio seems almost as clinical as a laboratory. This also has something to do with control.
Walks in the residential area
The house with garden behind it is a “paradise” for Richter. It has to be said, however, that not everyone wanted to live in Cologne-Hahnwald. It’s the neighborhood of walled, fenced-in villas reinforced with surveillance cameras. To get a beer or a bag of chips, you have to get in the car. But you can go for a walk relatively undisturbed. Richter used to be here with his little dog. If you met him, you could mistake him for a retired Ministerial Director. Unobtrusive appearance, neatly dressed, reserved demeanor. With such comparisons, however, one does not make oneself popular with him.
Gerhard Richter was born in Dresden and still does Saxon today. Not strong, but unmistakable. He fled from the GDR to the West in 1961. He came to Cologne more by accident: worked in Düsseldorf for a long time, then found the right property in the neighboring city. Among other things, he owes his adopted home the Richter window in Cologne Cathedral. This has become a real tourist attraction.
Richter is even an honorary citizen of the city, which means that he has free entry to the Museum Ludwig. But he does not use this privilege. When he visits an exhibition, he always buys a ticket, as you can see. Anything else wouldn’t suit him either. What is actually his favorite place in Cologne? “Not so easy.” Short thought. “The area around the cathedral, I like going there. And the churches in Cologne are also worth seeing.”
It must be an odd feeling knowing that anything you put your hands on can be monetized. It’s like in the fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, in which the miller’s daughter spins straw into gold. This can be a curse. Some time ago, a man was brought before a court in Cologne who fished discarded sketches out of Richter’s garbage. He wanted to sell her. On this occasion, the public learned that Richter always puts out his waste paper bin with unsuccessful works himself.
The late work comes to Berlin
The painter has meanwhile said goodbye to the large formats. Anyone who saw how the slender old gentleman climbed a folding ladder a few years ago to work on huge canvases with a squeegee will not find this surprising. Rather reassuring. Now he mainly draws. “Nothing special.”
What he still owns, he gave to Berlin. The approximately 100 works, including a large part of the abstract late work, are going to the Museum of the 20th Century, which is currently being built. There will be a room of his own for him, on the upper floor. Does he still experience it? Of course it would be nice. No hype, please.