9 Von 180 Farben (9 Of 180 Colours)

Another work in the Colour Charts series, 1260 Farben (1260 Colours), is a bold, minimal print that references its creator’s interest in the creative possibilities afforded by colour and colour theory. Arranged in a 3 x 3 grid pattern, the print features 9 block colours; these range from primary tones on the left of the composition (blue, yellow, and red), through to secondary colours (grey, light purple, and green) in the centre, and tertiary colours (pink, black, and brown) to the right. Staging the process of creating different colours from red, yellow, and blue - the primary building blocks of millions of different tones - Richter deconstructs traditional artistic practices in order to both inspect - and elide - them.

Despite their compositional differences, 9 Von 180 Farben and Richter’s abstract, squeegee-based works such as Haggadah (P2) are linked by the artist’s unwavering attention to process. At the heart of both artworks is an emphasis on the ‘essence’ of painting; the accretive process of both works’ production, which sees Richter use bold, ‘classic’ colours as a base ‘layer’ before exploring secondary and tertiary tones and layers thereafter, is present in each, and representation is unimportant.