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拍品专文
In 1982, shortly after Gerhard Richter exhibited his large-scale abstracts to critical acclaim at documenta 7 in Kassel, Germany, the artist unveiled a series of radically different paintings that confirmed his position as one of the world’s most important living artists. Kerze is one the these paintings, a discreet series that combines the past and the present, memory and reality. A contemporary intervention in the historic tradition of still-life painting, Richter’s Kerze paintings also reflected the artist’s very personal experiences of living through the destruction of World War II and its aftermath. Held in the personal collection of Marian Goodman, the legendary art dealer and close friend of the artist, for over 40 years, Kerze represents not only an important contribution to history of twentieth-century painting, but also one of the most enduring partnerships in contemporary art.
Enveloped in solitude, the solitary candle is a totem to the artist’s ability to convey emotion in the most controlled and reductive way. A pale wax candle is located in a simple white candle holder, making it one of only three surviving Kerze paintings to show a candle in full. Set on a deep sill, the candle is bathed in a soft light that permeates through an unseen window to the left, creating a dramatic interplay of light and shadow. The candle occupies the space where these two worlds converge; half bathed in light from the window, half enveloped in shadow, it belongs in both.
This duality is prevalent throughout Richter’s work. Much of his career has been spent examining the role of painting in an age where photography has become the dominant mode of visual communication, a medium particularly associated with truth and reality in opposition to painting’s fictive tradition. In addition, as someone who spent his childhood growing up in eastern Germany during World War II, before moving to the West in 1961, Richter has experienced his own personal dualities, including mortality and the transience of life, together with the conflicting political philosophies of tyranny and freedom.
Although Richter only painted a total of 27 Kerze paintings, the symbolism of the candle became one of the most important in his career. “I was fascinated by these motifs” he recalled. “I felt protected because these motifs are so art-historically charged, and I no longer needed to say that I painted them for myself. The motifs were covered by this styled composition, out-of-focus quality, and perfection. So beautifully painted, they take away the fear” (quoted in D. Elger, trans. E. Solaro, Gerhard Richter: A Life in Painting, Chicago, 2002, p. 262).
The “styled composition” quality that Richter refers to is a development of the artist’s iconic “photorealist” paintings with which he first gained international acclaim beginning in the early 1960s. Using an everyday photograph as his source image (often a family photograph or one torn from a magazine), at first Richter renders a near perfect copy of the image. Then, while the paint was still wet, he drags a dry brush over the surface, disrupting the clarity of the images while maintaining the integrity of its subject matter. “I do not blur my pictures to make a representation seem more artistic through lack of clarity or to give my style and individual note,” Richter maintains, “I rather equalize, neutralize what is depicted, attempt to retain the anonymous gloss of the photograph, to replace the craftsmanly-artistic with the technical” (G. Richter, quoted in Heiner Stachelhaus, ‘Doubts in the Face of Reality: The Paintings of Gerhard Richter’, Studio International 184, Sept. 1972, p. 78). In the case of the present work, Richter used a photograph of a candle taken in the artist’s studio specifically for the purpose of this painting.
For centuries artists have used candles to symbolize many things including faith, hope, life, mortality, enlightenment, and knowledge. Shifting from a device that symbolized the divine presence in medieval art, such as in Lucas Cranach the Elder’s Saints Genevieve and Apollonia (1506, National Gallery, London), to a key tool for showcasing dramatic chiaroscuro, as in Francesco de Zurbarán’s The Penitent Magdalen (circa 1635-38, Museo Nacional de San carlos, Mexico City), during the Dutch Golden Age the candle had come to represent the instability of life, as in Rembrandt’s The Money Changer (1627, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie), before being used to depict the triumph of reason during the Enlightenment, such as Joseph Wright of Derby's, Three Persons Viewing the Gladiator by Candlelight (1765, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool).
However, for Richter the candle has a much more personal historical resonance, as he recalled in 1995, when he produced a monumental Kerze painting to mark the 50th anniversary of the allied bombings of Dresden, “at first it was only intended to look pretty... but later a politically useful statement was also found in the picture... [as] candles had always been an important symbol for the GDR, as a silent protest against the regime... it was a strange feeling to see that a small picture of candles was turning into something completely different, something that I had never intended. Because, as I was painting it, it neither had this unequivocal meaning nor was it intended to be anything like a street picture. It sort of ran away from me and became something over which I no longer had control... When I painted the candles I wasn't thinking of February the 13th [the allied bombing of Dresden during World War II] but I did experience feelings to do with contemplation, remembering, silence and death” (G. Richter quoted in D. Elgar and H.U. Obrist (eds.), Gerhard Richter - TEXT: Writings, Interviews and Letters, 1961-2007, London 2009, pp. 320 and 354).
This particular Kerze painting has been in the personal collection of Marian Goodman, the legendary dealer and longtime friend of the artist, for the past four decades. She acquired the painting following an exhibition at the Max Hetzler Gallery in Stuttgart the previous year in which four of Richter’s Kerzen paintings were shown for the first time, alongside a selection of his new large-scale abstract works from 1982. As with many of the 20th Century’s greatest artistic statements, none sold initially. Goodman, however, spotted their potential almost immediately. At the time, the art world was dominated by a new generation of Neo-Expressionist painters including Jean-Michael Basquiat and Julian Schnabel in the U.S. and Georg Baselitz and A. R. Penck in Germany. However, Goodman saw something different in Richter’s work, “[He] was a bit drowned out by all these loud, expressionist voices,” she remembered. “So I wrote him a letter just telling him how much I loved the work and maybe I could make a difference… everything started from there.” (quoted in E. Day, “Marian Goodman: gallerist with the golden touch,” The Guardian, October 12, 2014, online [accessed: 4/4/2026]).
Thus began a partnership that lasted nearly forty years. As one of New York’s leading gallerists, Goodman was pivotal in introducing key European artists such as Richter, Joseph Beuys, and Marcel Broodthaers to audiences in the United States. Known for her highly sophisticated eye and her passionate advocacy for her artists, under her guidance Richter established himself as one of the world’s most important living contemporary painters. Richter also identified a partner too who had the ability to help him develop his career as he wanted to develop. Of their first meeting in 1983, Richter recalled, “I was impressed that she came alone. Other dealers come with another person or an entourage to support them. Marian is a presence. She is wise. She has courage” (quoted in P. Schjeldahl, “Dealership,” The New Yorker, January 26, 2004, online [accessed: 4/4/2026]).
Painted in 1982, Kerze dates from a significant period in Richter’s career. He turned 50-years-old that year, and along with the associated feelings of impermanence often associated with that milestone, he also experienced a remarkable resurgence of creativity. In addition to his Kerze paintings, he also began painting his large-scale squeegee abstract paintings, a body of work that would sustain him for much of the rest of his career. But it is with paintings such as the present work that we get a more complete picture of Richter the artist. Hauntingly beautiful and deeply personal, it is with paintings such as Kerze that we can see the full scope of Richter’s belief in the power of painting.
Enveloped in solitude, the solitary candle is a totem to the artist’s ability to convey emotion in the most controlled and reductive way. A pale wax candle is located in a simple white candle holder, making it one of only three surviving Kerze paintings to show a candle in full. Set on a deep sill, the candle is bathed in a soft light that permeates through an unseen window to the left, creating a dramatic interplay of light and shadow. The candle occupies the space where these two worlds converge; half bathed in light from the window, half enveloped in shadow, it belongs in both.
This duality is prevalent throughout Richter’s work. Much of his career has been spent examining the role of painting in an age where photography has become the dominant mode of visual communication, a medium particularly associated with truth and reality in opposition to painting’s fictive tradition. In addition, as someone who spent his childhood growing up in eastern Germany during World War II, before moving to the West in 1961, Richter has experienced his own personal dualities, including mortality and the transience of life, together with the conflicting political philosophies of tyranny and freedom.
Although Richter only painted a total of 27 Kerze paintings, the symbolism of the candle became one of the most important in his career. “I was fascinated by these motifs” he recalled. “I felt protected because these motifs are so art-historically charged, and I no longer needed to say that I painted them for myself. The motifs were covered by this styled composition, out-of-focus quality, and perfection. So beautifully painted, they take away the fear” (quoted in D. Elger, trans. E. Solaro, Gerhard Richter: A Life in Painting, Chicago, 2002, p. 262).
The “styled composition” quality that Richter refers to is a development of the artist’s iconic “photorealist” paintings with which he first gained international acclaim beginning in the early 1960s. Using an everyday photograph as his source image (often a family photograph or one torn from a magazine), at first Richter renders a near perfect copy of the image. Then, while the paint was still wet, he drags a dry brush over the surface, disrupting the clarity of the images while maintaining the integrity of its subject matter. “I do not blur my pictures to make a representation seem more artistic through lack of clarity or to give my style and individual note,” Richter maintains, “I rather equalize, neutralize what is depicted, attempt to retain the anonymous gloss of the photograph, to replace the craftsmanly-artistic with the technical” (G. Richter, quoted in Heiner Stachelhaus, ‘Doubts in the Face of Reality: The Paintings of Gerhard Richter’, Studio International 184, Sept. 1972, p. 78). In the case of the present work, Richter used a photograph of a candle taken in the artist’s studio specifically for the purpose of this painting.
For centuries artists have used candles to symbolize many things including faith, hope, life, mortality, enlightenment, and knowledge. Shifting from a device that symbolized the divine presence in medieval art, such as in Lucas Cranach the Elder’s Saints Genevieve and Apollonia (1506, National Gallery, London), to a key tool for showcasing dramatic chiaroscuro, as in Francesco de Zurbarán’s The Penitent Magdalen (circa 1635-38, Museo Nacional de San carlos, Mexico City), during the Dutch Golden Age the candle had come to represent the instability of life, as in Rembrandt’s The Money Changer (1627, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie), before being used to depict the triumph of reason during the Enlightenment, such as Joseph Wright of Derby's, Three Persons Viewing the Gladiator by Candlelight (1765, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool).
However, for Richter the candle has a much more personal historical resonance, as he recalled in 1995, when he produced a monumental Kerze painting to mark the 50th anniversary of the allied bombings of Dresden, “at first it was only intended to look pretty... but later a politically useful statement was also found in the picture... [as] candles had always been an important symbol for the GDR, as a silent protest against the regime... it was a strange feeling to see that a small picture of candles was turning into something completely different, something that I had never intended. Because, as I was painting it, it neither had this unequivocal meaning nor was it intended to be anything like a street picture. It sort of ran away from me and became something over which I no longer had control... When I painted the candles I wasn't thinking of February the 13th [the allied bombing of Dresden during World War II] but I did experience feelings to do with contemplation, remembering, silence and death” (G. Richter quoted in D. Elgar and H.U. Obrist (eds.), Gerhard Richter - TEXT: Writings, Interviews and Letters, 1961-2007, London 2009, pp. 320 and 354).
This particular Kerze painting has been in the personal collection of Marian Goodman, the legendary dealer and longtime friend of the artist, for the past four decades. She acquired the painting following an exhibition at the Max Hetzler Gallery in Stuttgart the previous year in which four of Richter’s Kerzen paintings were shown for the first time, alongside a selection of his new large-scale abstract works from 1982. As with many of the 20th Century’s greatest artistic statements, none sold initially. Goodman, however, spotted their potential almost immediately. At the time, the art world was dominated by a new generation of Neo-Expressionist painters including Jean-Michael Basquiat and Julian Schnabel in the U.S. and Georg Baselitz and A. R. Penck in Germany. However, Goodman saw something different in Richter’s work, “[He] was a bit drowned out by all these loud, expressionist voices,” she remembered. “So I wrote him a letter just telling him how much I loved the work and maybe I could make a difference… everything started from there.” (quoted in E. Day, “Marian Goodman: gallerist with the golden touch,” The Guardian, October 12, 2014, online [accessed: 4/4/2026]).
Thus began a partnership that lasted nearly forty years. As one of New York’s leading gallerists, Goodman was pivotal in introducing key European artists such as Richter, Joseph Beuys, and Marcel Broodthaers to audiences in the United States. Known for her highly sophisticated eye and her passionate advocacy for her artists, under her guidance Richter established himself as one of the world’s most important living contemporary painters. Richter also identified a partner too who had the ability to help him develop his career as he wanted to develop. Of their first meeting in 1983, Richter recalled, “I was impressed that she came alone. Other dealers come with another person or an entourage to support them. Marian is a presence. She is wise. She has courage” (quoted in P. Schjeldahl, “Dealership,” The New Yorker, January 26, 2004, online [accessed: 4/4/2026]).
Painted in 1982, Kerze dates from a significant period in Richter’s career. He turned 50-years-old that year, and along with the associated feelings of impermanence often associated with that milestone, he also experienced a remarkable resurgence of creativity. In addition to his Kerze paintings, he also began painting his large-scale squeegee abstract paintings, a body of work that would sustain him for much of the rest of his career. But it is with paintings such as the present work that we get a more complete picture of Richter the artist. Hauntingly beautiful and deeply personal, it is with paintings such as Kerze that we can see the full scope of Richter’s belief in the power of painting.