- Gerhard Richter, authorized offset on smooth satin paper (250gsm approx.). - 2005. Copyright Gerhard Richter. - Condition: excellent. Never framed, never exposed. - Stamp on verso. - Size: 70 x 70cm. - Gerhard Richter (b. 1932) is a German visual artist widely regarded as one of the most important and influential painters of the postwar era. Known for his vast and varied body of work, Richter has continuously shifted between photorealism, abstraction, conceptualism, and minimalism, defying artistic categorization. He emerged in the 1960s with his photo-based paintings, blurring black-and-white images from newspapers or personal archives to question memory and perception. In contrast, his later abstract paintings are vibrant, layered fields of color created using squeegees and unconventional tools, often emphasizing spontaneity, accident, and materiality. "Composition, Abstract Painting" (1992). exemplifies Richter’s squeegee technique, where paint is dragged across the canvas in layered, transparent bands. In this piece, vertical strokes in rich purples, greens, blues, and fiery reds create a textured rhythm, balancing randomness and intention. The process leaves traces of previous layers, revealing the physical act of painting and suggesting movement, light, and depth. This work highlights Richter’s belief that abstraction can evoke the sublime just as powerfully as figurative art offering emotion without narrative, and structure without explanation. Gerhard Richter is one of the most expensive living artists in the world: His painting "Abstraktes Bild" (1986) sold for $46.3 million in a famous auction house in 2015; other abstract works from the 1980s–90s regularly sell for $10–30 million. Collectors prize his abstract paintings for their visual complexity, conceptual depth, and global relevance. Museums such as MoMA, the Tate, and Centre Pompidou hold his works, and he continues to be a major influence in both contemporary painting and philosophy of art. Artists of similar importance: Picasso, Hockney, Lichtenstein, Warhol, Banksy, Brainwash, Delaunay, Nara, Soulages, Lagasse, Ramos, Coa, Dior, Vuitton, Lautrec, Klimt, Basquiat, Hirst, Chagall, Koons, Matisse, Indiana, Mondrian, Groening, Monroe, Herrera, Laurent, Klein, Kusama, Murakami, Testa, Villemot, Oldenburg, Hopper, Ripolles, Wesselmann, Magritte, Jenk, Orlinski, Wille, Rizzi, Manara, Thiebaud, Kaws, Valentino, Cappiello, Rothko, Dalí, among others.