Gerhard Richter: 81 Zeichnungen ∙ 1 STRIP-Bild ∙ 1 Edition – Pinakothek der Moderne | 02.05.-08.06.2025

From the 2nd May 2025, the Pinakothek der Moderne will present the exhibition “81 Drawings ∙ 1 STRIP Picture ∙ 1 Edition” by the artist Gerhard Richter. With this project, the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München is once again exploring the significance of the art of drawing in the 21st century as a source of inspiration within the visual arts and questioning its role as an existential form of expression of the human intellect and its creative power.

Image above: Gerhard Richter (1932), Mixing technique, 216 x 259 mm, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München, © Gerhard Richter, 2025.

The artist’s studio was left open, his painting oeuvre was closed. In the remoteness of his studio, Gerhard Richter now created drawings that he subjected to his self-imposed maxim: “The most fundamental, the hardest thing is to make something that is good.””This is especially true for drawings because every pentimento, every insecurity and caprice leaves traces on the paper.

In this liberating environment, far removed from the rambling discourses on his life’s work, it was high time to start considering Gerhard Richter’s drawings. The focus of the Munich exhibition is on three suites of his most recent drawings. The wealth contained in this virtuoso group of works is surprising when considered in the context of his drawing oeuvre.

He counters the ascetic severity of the serial display of his recent drawings with a newly created Strip Painting that outshines the exhibition gallery. Near the entrance in the Vitrinengang the edition piece Schädel (Skull) was to be placed in one of the twelve otherwise empty display cases for graphic art. This work is at once a provoking ready-made and an ominous presence. Yet the sober presentation is misleading. With his exhibition 81 Zeichnungen · 1 Strip-Bild · 1 Edition Gerhard Richter has succeeded in a radical presentation of his latest drawings within the museum space.

WHEN?

Opening: Wednesday, 30. April 2025, at 7 pm.

Exhibition dates: Friday, 02. May 2025 – Sunday, 08. June 2025

WHERE?

Pinakothek der Moderne,
Barer Str. 40,
80333 München