Gerhard Richter

Abstract Painting (Skin) (887-3)

2004

Not on display

Artist: Gerhard Richter born 1932
Original title: Abstraktes Bild (Haut) (887-3)
Medium: Oil paint on canvas
Dimensions: Support: 2300 × 2049 × 68 mm
Collection: ARTIST ROOMS Tate and National Galleries of Scotland
Acquisition: ARTIST ROOMS Acquired jointly with the National Galleries of Scotland through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund 2008
Reference: AR00028

Online caption

After 2000, Richter made a number of works that dealt with scientific phenomena, in particular, with aspects of reality that can’t be seen by the naked eye. This work, which translates as ‘Abstract Painting (Skin)’, deals with the visual patterns that sound vibrations create when brought into proximity to the surface of milk (skin). The actual image derives from experiments carried out in 2000 by the German artist, Carsten Nicolai (born 1965). The repeated pattern of forms, albeit indistinct and out of focus in some areas, is also found in Richter’s later paintings and prints about earth elements, such as silicate and strontium.