Gerhard Richter 1988/89
Gerhard Richter 1988/89
Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
15 October 1989 - 03 December 1989
editThe two paintings entitled Arrest [CR: 674/1-2] are a part of the cycle October 18, 1977 and refer to the detention of Andreas Baader and Holger Meins on the morning of 1st June 1972 in a courtyard in Frankfurt after a shootout. The RAF had shocked the country in the weeks before their arrest by carrying out numerous bombings and prompting one of the biggest enforcement actions in the history of the republic.
Richter draws on film stills the ARD took for the evening news at the seizure of the three men from an adjacent rooftop[1]. The same stills were published on 8th June 1972 by the magazine stern. Just like in the magazine the two paintings depict two sequential snapshots[2]: from above, the viewer can see inside a garage yard and several cars, one person and a bigger, dark vehicle can be recognized beside the white wall of the house. Richter transferred the black and white prototypes to the canvas and blurred the outlines so heavily that further details are hard to distinguish. Because of the wide distribution of the images in the press it must be assumed that contemporary viewers would nonetheless have been able to recognize the scene[3].
Depicted are a house and a garage yard in Frankfurt[4] where several cars are parked and an armoured car of the police is trying to close in Holger Meins and Andreas Baader that had barricaded themselves into one of the garages. After Baader was incapacitated by a shot to the thigh, Meins surrendered and was forced by the police to take off his clothes[5]. Arrest 1 [CR: 674-1] shows the bright front of the house as well as the armoured car and a line of parked cars in front of it. Holger Meins has stepped out of the garage but his figure is merely hinted at by a dark shadow. Arrest 2 [CR: 674-2] shows a scene a few moments later when the armoured car has pulled back and Holger Meins is just stepping out of his trousers. The blurring is still quite strong, however, overall it appears less agitated and calmer with some details identifiable. The outlines of the big house on the left by contrast are much hazier than in the first painting.
Chronologically speaking, Arrest 1 and 2 and the Youth Portrait [CR: 672-1] are the prelude to the cycle October 18, 1977. The seizure of Baader, Raspe and Meins on the one hand is the start to their imprisonment of the protagonists of the cycle[6] and their consequential suicides, on the other hand the two paintings also stand in place of the fight between the RAF and the state authorities. Although the terrorist actions of the RAF had been brought to a temporary end with the arrests, the discussions about the adequacy of the measures taken to catch them and the accusation that the protection of the state had become irrationally brutal had just begun[7].
Although Richter never intended to depict the terrorists as some sort of heroes, he nevertheless saw them as victims of their ideology: “Not the victims of any specific ideology of the left or of the right, but of the ideological posture as such. This has to do with the everlasting human dilemma in general: to work for a revolution and fail… […] What interests me is something different […] the why and wherefore of an ideology that has such an effect on people; why we have ideologies at all; whether this is an inevitable, a necessary part of our make-up – or a pointless one, a mere hindrance, a menace to life, a delusion.” [8]
[1] Robert Storr (ed.), Gerhard Richter. October 18, 1977, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2000, p. 149. Jan-Carl Raspe had been captured that same morning just before the depicted events unfurled. Cf. Aust 2008, pp. 344-345.
[2] Kai-Uwe Hemken, Gerhard Richter 18. Oktober 1977, insel, Frankfurt/Leipzig, 1998, p. 67.
[3] Martin Henatsch, Gerhard Richter – 18. Oktober 1977. Das verwischte Bild der Geschichte, Fischer, Frankfurt, 1998 pp. 80-81.
[4] Ortrud Westheider, “Eine Idee, die bis zum Tod geht. Der Zyklus 18. Oktober 1977”, in: Uwe M. Schneede (ed.), Gerhard Richter. Bilder einer Epoche, exh. cat. Bucerius Kunst-Forum, Munich, 2011, p. 158.
[5] Stefan Aust, Der Baader-Meinhof-Komplex, 3rd ed., Hamburg, 2008, pp. 344-349.
[6] Gudrun Ensslin was captured only a week later, on 7th June 1972, in a boutique in Hamburg, while Urike Meinhof was seized on 17th June 1972 in Hanover. Cf. Aust 2008, pp. 354-363.
[7] Hemken 1998, p. 74.
[8] Conversation with Jan Thorn-Prikker concerning the 18 October 1977 cycle, 1989 (translated by David Britt) in: Gerhard Richter. Text. Writings, Interviews and Letters 1961-2007. Thames & Hudson, 2009, p. 232.
Notes prepared by editorial team
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, USA
This artwork is based on an image included in Atlas:
This artwork was shown in the following exhibitions::
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In this publication, eminent American scholar and curator Robert Storr offers an authoritative consideration of September, Richter’s 2005 painting made in response to the attacks on the WorldTrade Center of 11 September 2001, ... |
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Gerhard Richter has been widely regarded as a publicity shy artist. However, the biography Gerhard Richter, Maler gives an insight into Richter’s personal history as well as into the development of his artistic œuvre. ... |
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The book was published on the occasion of the exhibition Gerhard Richter. Abstrakte Bilder at Museum Ludwig, Cologne and Haus der Kunst, Munich. The exhibitions were dedicated to Gerhard Richter’s abstract pictures ... |
Gerhard Richter. Large Abstracts | Wilmes, Ulrich / Buchloh, Benjamin H. D. / Söntgen, Beate / Stemmrich, Gregor edit | 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Exhibitions
The book was published on the occasion of the exhibition Gerhard Richter. Abstrakte Bilder at Museum Ludwig, Cologne and Haus der Kunst, Munich. The exhibitions were dedicated to Gerhard Richter’s abstract pictures ... |
Gerhard Richter: Abstrakte Bilder | Wilmes, Ulrich / Buchloh, Benjamin H. D. / Söntgen, Beate / Stemmrich, Gregor edit | 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Exhibitions
The catalogue was published to coincide with the exhibition Gerhard Richter: 4900 Colours at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 2008. ... |
Gerhard Richter. 4900 Colours | Buchloh, Benjamin H. D. / Gidal, Peter / Pelzer, Birgit / Peyton-Jones, Julia / Obrist, Hans Ulrich edit | 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Exhibitions
Gerhard Richter. Portraits is the first publication that focuses solely on Richter’s portraits, many of which have now gained both recognition and veneration across the globe. ... |
Gerhard Richter. Portraits | Gronert, Stefan / Butin, Hubertus edit | 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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At 864 pages, this monumental and comprehensive publication maps the ideas, processes, life and times of Gerhard Richter. Conceived and closely edited by Richter himself, Atlas cuts straight to the heart of the artist's work ... |
Gerhard Richter. Atlas | Friedel, Helmut edit | 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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At 864 pages, this monumental and comprehensive publication maps the ideas, processes, life and times of Gerhard Richter. Conceived and closely edited by Richter himself, Atlas cuts straight to the heart of the artist's work ... |
Gerhard Richter. Atlas | Friedel, Helmut edit | 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Exhibitions
Gerhard Richter. Portraits is the first publication that focuses solely on Richter’s portraits, many of which have now gained both recognition and veneration across the globe. ... |
Gerhard Richter. Portraits | Gronert, Stefan / Butin, Hubertus edit | 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Exhibitions
This catalogue raisonné records Richter’s works in the years 1993-2004. In his work, Gerhard Richter calls into question painting's boundaries, and the labels applied to painting and theories connected with them. ... |
Gerhard Richter. Catalogue Raisonné 1993–2004 | Zweite, Armin edit | 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Exhibitions
The catalogue raisonné of Gerhard Richters editions 1965–2004 was published to coincided with exhibitions in Bonn, Lucerne, Emden, Tübingen and Salzburg. ... |
Gerhard Richter: Editionen 1965-2004 | Butin, Hubertus / Gronert, Stefan edit | 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Exhibitions
The catalogue raisonné of Gerhard Richters editions 1965–2004 was published to coincide with exhibitions in Bonn, Lucerne, Emden, Tübingen and Salzburg. ... |
Gerhard Richter: Editions 1965-2004 | edit | 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Exhibitions |
Visions of Modern Art. Painting and Sculpture from the Museum of Modern Art | Elderfield, John / Lowry, Glenn D. / Ganz, Sarah / Storr, Robert / Umland, Anne / Daftari, Fereshteh edit | 2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Gerhard Richter is widely recognized as one of the most significant painters working today, and he is certainly among the most influential. He has worked in a wide range of media since the early 1960s, ... |
Gerhard Richter. Doubt and Belief in Painting | Storr, Robert edit | 2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Exhibitions
Published on the occasion of the exhibition Gerhard Richter. 40 Years of Painting at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, this publication represents a broad range of Gerhard Richter's paintings of the last 40 years. ... |
Gerhard Richter. Malerei | Storr, Robert edit | 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Gerhard Richter has been widely regarded as a publicity shy artist. However, the biography Gerhard Richter, Maler gives an insight into Richter’s personal history as well as into the development of his artistic œuvre. ... |
Gerhard Richter, Maler | Elger, Dietmar edit | 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Exhibitions
Published on the occasion of the exhibition Gerhard Richter. 40 Years of Painting at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, this publication represents a broad range of Gerhard Richter's paintings of the last 40 years. ... |
Gerhard Richter. Forty Years of Painting | Storr, Robert edit | 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Exhibitions
The catalogue Gerhard Richter. Survey accompanies the eponymous exhibition of the German Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (IfA), which has been composed by Gerhard Richter himself. ... |
Gerhard Richter. Survey | Schwarz, Dieter / Zeller, Ursula / Adriani, Götz edit | 2001 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Exhibitions
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. October 18, 1977 | Storr, Robert edit | 2000 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Exhibitions
The catalogue Gerhard Richter. Übersicht accompanies the eponymous exhibition of the German Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (IfA), which has been composed by Gerhard Richter himself. ... |
Gerhard Richter. Übersicht | Schwarz, Dieter / Zeller, Ursula / Adriani, Götz edit | 2000 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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This catalogue raisonné of Gerhard Richter's drawings encompasses works in pencil, India ink, ballpoint pen, and other drawing media, on both paper and canvas since 1964. ... |
Gerhard Richter. Drawings 1964-1999. Catalogue Raisonné | Schwarz, Dieter / Pelzer, Birgit edit | 2000 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Exhibitions |
Gerhard Richter | Corà, Bruno / Buchloh, Benjamin H. D. / Chevrier, Jean Francois / Moscati, Italo edit | 1999 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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L'image-événement. Représentations de la terreur dans l'œuvre de Willie Doherty et de Gerhard Richter | Lavoie, Vincent edit | 1999 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Gerhard Richter, 18. Oktober 1977. Eine Kunst-Monographie | Hemken, Kai-Uwe edit | 1998 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Exhibitions |
Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke, Arnulf Rainer. Sammlung Frieder Burda = Collection Frieder Burda | Poetter, Jochen / Brehm, Margrit / Möckel, Birgit edit | 1996 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Exhibitions
Designed by the artist himself, this publication gives a rare insight into one of the most intensive work periods (1995–1996) of Richter’s life. ... |
Gerhard Richter. 100 Bilder | Obrist, Hans Ulrich / Pelzer, Birgit / Tosatto, Guy edit | 1996 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Exhibitions
Designed by the artist himself, this publication gives a rare insight into one of the most intensive work periods (1995–1996) of Richter’s life. ... |
Gerhard Richter. 100 Pictures | Obrist, Hans Ulrich / Pelzer, Birgit / Tosatto, Guy edit | 1996 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Exhibitions
This limited edition reproduces in facsimile each of the twenty-three Richter works executed on pages of the book Stammheim. Der Prozess gegen die Rote Armee Fraktion by Pieter H. Bakker Schut ... |
Stammheim. Gerhard Richter | Seymour, Anne edit | 1995 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Exhibitions |
Aus der Sammlung. Nach 25 Jahren | Grisebach, Lucius / Braunsberg, Günter edit | 1992 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Museum für Moderne Kunst und Sammlung Ströher | edit | 1991 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Zu Richters Oktober-Bildern | Butin, Hubertus edit | 1991 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Exhibitions |
Gerhard Richter | Rainbird, Sean / Severne, Judith edit | 1991 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Exhibitions |
Gerhard Richter 1988/89 | Schampers, Karel / Tilroe, Anna / Buchloh, Benjamin H. D. edit | 1989 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Exhibitions |
Gerhard Richter: Atlas | Zweite, Armin edit | 1989 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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18. Oktober 1977 | Ammann, Jean-Christophe edit | 1989 |
This artwork is shown or mentioned in the following videos:
3 Related publications
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Stürzen, Kippen, Fallen, Sinken. Neue Bilder von Gerhard Richter | Flemming, Viktoria von | 1989 | |||||||||||||||||
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Gerhard Richter 1988/89 | Schampers, Karel / Tilroe, Anna / Buchloh, Benjamin H. D. | 1989 | |||||||||||||||||
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Beelddeemstering. Over de Baader-Meinhof-cyclus van Gerhard Richter | Lauwaert, Dirk | 1993 |