Bildnis Holger Friedrich, 1972
Oil on canvas, 55 1/8 x 55 1/8 x 1 1/8 in. (140 x 140 x 2.9 cm)
Gift of Walter Bareiss, B.S. 1940s, and Molly Bareiss
1991.58.81
Holger Friedrich was the brother of the influential German art dealer Heiner Friedrich. This painting was commissioned on behalf of the subject's partner on the occasion of Holger's untimely death. Friedrich is shown close to the viewer and seated in the front seat of a car; the white light of its windows softly frame his face, imbuing the painting with a melancholic, reflective tone. Richter's paintings often derived from photographs, or what the artist calls his "atlas," from which he paints an accurate representation and that he then draws over with a wide brush to create a less legible, blurred effect. The painterly quality of the image's surface in effect fuses with the technically produced image. As with much of Richter's art, the effaced portrait of Friedrich raises questions of representation and abstraction that have become central to contemporary artistic practice.
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