Richter 858 [Hardcover]

Ann Lauterbach (Author), Connie Deanovich (Author), W.S. Di Piero (Author), Jorie Graham (Author), Brenda Hillman (Author), Paul Hoover (Author), James McManus (Author), Michael Palmer (Author), Dean Young (Author), Edward Hirsch (Author), Dave Hickey (Author), Richard Howard (Author), Klaus Kertess (Author), David Breskin (Editor), Gerhard Richter (Author), Bill Frisell (Author), Robert Hass (Contributor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0971861005 | ISBN-13: 978-0971861008 | Publication Date: September 2, 2002 | Edition: Package

Gerhard Richter's abstractions are profound and beautiful, though perplexing. After all these years, they still present a curious challenge: what, exactly, are they? RICHTER 858 explores this question by focusing on one suite of extraordinary pictures painted in 1999, soon after his return to work after a silence caused by a stroke. Both investigation and celebration, this book brings together image, music and text in a uniquely compelling way: contributors include the great guitarist and composer Bill Frisell, two sharp-eyed critics, and a baker's dozen of prominent, award-winning poets. Housed in an aluminum slipcase, this lavish, oversized volume features the largest, most sumptuous, and most accurate reproductions of any Richter work. The eight paintings of the suite are shown at more than half-scale, and also, quite untraditionally, presented unbound on heavy paper in a pocket at the back of the book--allowing readers to mix, match, and re-present the work for themselves outside the confines of the printed volume. Forty details from the paintings are also reproduced in large-format, accompanied by the poems and texts. These brilliant passages--rich in incident and intervention, and ranging from the coolly sublime to the loudly riotous--make fascinating pictures in their own right. Additionally, a double gatefold opens to show all eight paintings in panoramic view. In essence, RICHTER 858 presents an elegant, if raucous, meeting ground for our most important contemporary artist and a diverse chorus of American music, poetry, and criticism.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gerhard Richter was born in 1932 in Dresden, Germany. Since the early 1960s he has emerged as one of the essential painters of the postwar period, pioneering Photorealism with paintings made from found photographs (amateur photographs, advertisements and book and magazine illustrations) and then from his own photographs. His work has also profoundly engaged with and influenced such genres as Pop Art and Abstract art. Richter is the subject of a highly-acclaimed travelling retrospective which opened at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, in February 2002.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 120 pages
• Publisher: The Shifting Foundation/SFMOMA; Package edition (September 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971861005
• ISBN-13: 978-0971861008
• Product Dimensions: 19.5 x 14 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,509,829 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Much more than another coffee table book, November 6, 2002

By 

J. Chu - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Richter 858 (Hardcover)

Unfortunately I haven't yet made it to SFMOMA to see the Gerhard Richter exhibit. However, my much anticipated copy of Richter 858 arrived in the mail today, and to say that it didn't disappoint is an understatement. I had initially been a little wary about getting it. It comes with an aluminum slipcase and poetry and an audio CD with music composed by the brilliant Bill Frisell, and while some might find this sort of presentation lush, I, being somewhat of a purist, was afraid these inclusions would be nothing more than bells and whistles-basically a lot of noise to give voice to a suite of paintings that, according to any good Kantian, should be able to stand on its own. Boy was I wrong. People who know me know that I don't like fuss, but even the worry about scratching the aluminum slipcase, or maneuvering the book's awkward size and bulk, or the guilt for not using gloves to turn these impeccably produced pages, couldn't dampen the sheer transport I felt as I drunk in art and text and Bill's passionate and daring compositions with equal abandon. I've been reluctant to embrace anything multimedia, but Richter 858 may have just pushed me into the 21st century.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A plethora of pleasures, February 1, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Richter 858 (Hardcover)

You don't have to be an afficionado of contemporary poetry, or an art lover, to appreciate the many delights housed within the aluminum slip case of this work. But if you happen to be either, or both, this book is a must.

The "book" has, in this case, evolved well beyond the concept of an art tome. The joining of music, poetry and lovingly accurate reproductions under one cover makes the circumnavigation of this opus is a particularly rich eexperience. Which is not to say that listening to the music , or dipping into one poem, is not an entirely satisfying moment by itself.

Be prepared, however: this gesamtwerk is big, and will not fit into an ordinary bookcase! The paintings being reproduced to scale has dictated the extra large format, but the extraordinarily accurate pictorial results are worth the extra weight.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Feast for Eyes and Ears, November 16, 2002

By 

RoseMary Aguayo (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Richter 858 (Hardcover)

I've only recently become acquainted with the range of Gerhard Richter's work, but the series of eight abstract paintings which are being celebrated here are enough to justify his reputation for me, and the sheer richness and resolution of their presentation in this book is of a standard I've never come across anywhere. Elegant, sensuous and gorgeous, this is more than a `typical' art book in manners large and small; includes insightful essays by writers like Dave Hickey, poetry, and a CD by Bill Frisell with a string trio that's a lot more quirky and edgy than his recent stuff, in a good way (no banjos). The book's editor, David Breskin, has done an amazing job - the aluminum slipcase is a pretty sharp touch, too.