Gerhard Richter’s ‘Abstraktes Bild’ (‘Abstract Painting’) (2015) is a seminal late painting created at a pivotal moment in his career, following years of experimentation with glass works and his digitally generated Strip series. During this period, Richter pushed his exploration of abstraction and interrogation of representation into innovative new directions. After his triumphant return to oil painting in 2014, he initiated a new group of works, including ‘Abstraktes Bild,’ that distil the ingenious techniques and unique visual language he developed over the course of his extraordinary career. Closely related examples can be found in the collection of the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris.

‘A picture like this is painted in different layers, separated by intervals of time. … It is a highly planned kind of spontaneity.’