Gerhard Richter Painting | The Documentary

After arguably his most acclaimed retrospective Panorama at the Tate Modern this Year to coincide with his 80th Birthday, the documentary Gerhard Richter Painting has been released. Richter’s art work is known around the world by artists, art lovers and collectors alike, though he himself is rather less known as a consequence of his reclusive nature. This in my opinion has helped his career due to the proficiency and exceptional nature of his work, allowing the critics to converse with the work, rather than with him. Corinna Belz’s the filmmaker behind the fly-on-the-wall documentary has spent three years as a passive observer capturing the routine and methodology behind creating his radical and consuming abstract works. 

“You get the feeling the paintings are staring at you,” says Corinna Belz, who met the painter while filming his vibrant pixelated stained glass window for the Cologne Cathedral. “There’s a physicality to Richter’s paintings. I wanted the viewer to become immersed in the subtly suspenseful cycle of the process.”

Masters are never born, they are developed and honed by years of disciplined studio practice, continuing to work through triumphs and mistakes in search for the next and the search for the now. This documentary sees a master at work at the height of his powers and is a unique insight into a visionary genius. 

Works unfold before your eyes, changing at a moments notice; reflective of the society we inhabit. Each work is complex and compelling not least in their final state, a single work can consume you, in a wall of smeared multi-layered colours and textures that holds your attention and captures the imagination. This documentary in uniquely insightful, compelling and inspirational; I recommend that whom ever you are, you should watch this documentary. 

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