Townscape 1968

Gerhard Richter made this painting, Townscape, with oil paints. It's a symphony of greys and blacks, and you can almost feel Richter building up this world, stroke by stroke. I imagine him standing there, brush in hand, teasing out these forms from the darkness, figuring it out as he goes along. The paint's not too thick, not too thin, but just enough to give it that dreamy, almost photographic quality he's known for. See how those vertical strokes create the illusion of light reflecting off a building? There's something so intimate and searching about Richter’s process, like he's not just showing us a townscape, but also how painting itself can be a way of seeing, of making sense of the world, one gesture at a time. It’s like he’s in conversation with all the painters who came before him, riffing on their ideas, adding his own twist. Painting isn't about fixed answers, but about keeping the questions alive.