One of the greatest artists of our time, Gerhard Richter has moved freely between genres throughout his long career. Over the past 25 years, he has been honoured with numerous prestigious awards and exhibitions and has achieved record prices at international auctions.
This limited edition photograph, published by Marian Goodman Gallery, is based on a photograph he took of his youngest daughter Ella in 2006. The original photograph was the model for his famous 2007 painting of the same name. The painting, oil on canvas 40 × 31 cm, belongs to a private collection but was at one time on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Gerhard Richter often works in series and it is not unusual for him to start with a photograph, create a painting and then duplicate his original work by making photographs and editions after his paintings. In his exhibitions, the same subjects are often shown side by side in different techniques. Throughout his career Richter has explored painting through an experimental and imaginative approach to its materials and techniques. His oeuvre ranges from realistic works based on found images and photographs to abstract paintings made with a rubber squeegee, two- and three-dimensional glass works, abstract drawings and painted photographs of everyday subjects. Portraits have been an important part of Richter's work since the 1960s. The models have been diverse, ranging from celebrities and icons of popular culture to family and friends. His portrait of Ella references two of his earlier works. One is the 1996 self-portrait and the other is one of his most famous paintings, "Betty" (663-5). The latter shows his eldest daughter, Babette, in a red and white patterned dressing gown with her head turned away. This work inspired the Swedish artist Anneè Olofsson, among others.