Gerhard Richter

On October 11, 1966 Gerhard Richter exhibited his Color Charts at Munich’s Galerie Friedrich & Dahlem.

The paintings were inspired by paint sample cards from a hardware store. He thought they “looked like painting. It’s wonderful.” He later said that these works were a 'happy stroke of luck'. He set out to reproduce them in an artless manner to imitate their commercial and industrial function. The charts became a way to explore color and by appropriating a commercial object were in line with Pop Art approach.

 

In this POST, he shares a detail of Ten color charts. The artworks were not well reviewed by several critics but were supported by his friends: the artist Blinky Palermo who contributed to his exploration and the artist Imi Knoebel, also in his circle of friends, who once said “If you want to stay alive, you have to do something radical”

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Sigmar Polke

Sigmar Polke painted Chocolate (Girlfriends 1965/66), one of his important early paintings. Taken from a found image of two young women, he applied hand painted dots.

His comments refer to his message through his artwork mocking pop art and questioning art,  the use and social function of images and the limits between a photograph and a painting (hence the emoji).

 

His friend Gerhard Richter with whom he founded the painting movement "Kapitalistischer Realismus” ("Capitalist realism") comments with one of his quotes about art.

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Sources: Levy Gorvy I Gerhard-Richter.com

Gerhard Richter’s Legendary Color Charts Turn 50, artnet, 2015

Artist Imi Knoebel: 'If you want to stay alive, you have to do something radical', Kate Connolly