September: A History Painting by Gerhard Richter

by Robert Storr, Brian Urquhart (Foreword)

Gerhard Richter (b. 1932) is one of the most influential artists at work today. His painting September, a response to the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, was made some four years after the event. The eminent American critic and curator Robert Storr, who has had a long working relationship with Richter, explores both the painting and the event itself, through a very personal account of his experience in New York on the day of the attacks. Storr shows, both through words and comparative illustrations, how this painting is part of a current running throughout Richter's career of responses to traumatic, violent, and controversial events, including works based on the bombing of cities in World War II and the capture of the West German Baader-Meinhof terrorist group.

Genres: Art

96 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2011

About the author

Robert Storr is an American curator, critic, painter, and writer.

Reviews

[Jim Stiles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading this soon after the pandemic began. AS these things go, Randy and I were able to see the recently opened Gerard Richter show at Met Breuer when we were in NYC mid-march. We were literally two of the last people to see this show before it closed forever.

The museum did a good job of trying to bring the show to life online, but it is just not possible to convey the brilliance of Richter’s work that way.

I bought this volume years ago at the Centre Pompidou at another Richter retrospective ( a better one actually). That was the first time I saw this haunting and evocative painting. There are few pieces of art that capture the horrors of September 11, 2001, but a view come to mind:
This painting
JOhan Adams stunning work for chorus and orchestra. “ On the Transmigration of Souls”
Adam Gwon’s beautiful song “I’ll be Here”
Helen Whitney’s Beautiful Frontline program “Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero”.

I enjoyed reading more about this painting and learning more about Richter - but the power of the image itself is what kept me going.