Fall 1983

Gerhard Richter made this painting "Fall" with squeegees and a whole lot of intuition. Imagine Richter, in his studio, probably somewhere in Germany, layering those colors, blue, red, yellow, dragging them across the canvas, subtracting as much as he's adding. I’m thinking about the push and pull of the squeegee, how it smears and reveals simultaneously. There’s a real sense of play here, don’t you think? Look at how the strokes become like a field of wild grass, that black diagonal like a dark cloud passing overhead. You see the pink too? He makes space for this gentle hue, nestled inside the harder reds. Richter’s whole practice circles around chance, control and the loss of control. He lets the painting guide him, rather than the other way around. And he’s in good company, you know? So many painters, from all over the world, are having similar conversations through their art. The possibilities feel endless, and that’s something to celebrate.