Gerhard Richter October 18, 1977

by Robert Storr

On October 18, 1977, three young German radicals, members of the militant Baader-Meinhof group, were found dead in a Stuttgart prison; they were pronounced suicides, but many people suspected they had been murdered. Gerhard Richter, a German painter, and one of the most exceptional and highly regarded artists of the second half of the 20th century, created, 11 years after this traumatic event, a series of 15 paintings known as October 18, 1977 . It is among the most challenging works of the artist's career, and one of the 20th century's most famous works on a political theme, still highly debated and unsettling to this day. Accompanied by an extensive and sensitive group of texts by Robert Storr, who recently curated the highly acclaimed Richter retrospective at The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Genres: Art

152 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2000

About the author

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

Reviews

[Christine Canepa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this one rainy winter weekend at Orr, and was hands-down delighted that the weather was perfectly calibrated to the tone of my reading material. For anyone interested in Richter, painting, radical left-wing movements of the 1970's and the failures thereof, modern European history, or just great stories, the book is divided into 4 meaty chapters on the aforementioned topics. Super engaging and highly informative!

"Fun" fact: Badder-Meinhof trained went to Palestine to train in PLO in guerilla tactics, but were asked to leave because the palestinians didn't appreciate the German girls sunbathing topless.

[sophie fox · Rating 2 out of 5]

i had to write this for a paper i don’t want to write. the book was fine.

[k · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great MOMA show a few years ago. I got this book and the catalog there. Richter is brilliant and these paintings, a series he did of the Baader-Meinhof group and their murder (suicides) in German prisons was stark and powerful. This is a wonderful essay by the great Robert Storrs.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richter explores the color gray with a cool mechanistic physical touch, manipulating the paint with a dry lyricism fitting for his elegiac studies of the doomed Baader-Meinhof collective. Haunting.