Gerhard Richter Painting [Blu-ray]

"Gerhard Richter Painting" shows, of course, the artist painting in his cavernous studio. It also shows him working with curators to hang his work for a show, taking questions from the press, discussing art with his friend, art historian Benjamin Buchloh, and talking with an off-screen presence, presumably director Corinna Belz.To me, Richter's internal processes remain enigmatic. Belz asks him when he knows a work is finished. Richter replies (and I am paraphrasing from memory here) that it is when there is nothing more that can make it better. Belz: How do you know? R: When it is good. B: Can we go a little deeper -- what is "good"? R: That's difficult. The artist has to see that, and the viewer too.A good answer, and probably accurate. A feeling for visual aesthetic may be, to a large extent, non-verbal. The critic Clement Greenberg wrote something similar: If you have a developed aesthetic sense, you just know when a painting is good. You just know.After a question-and-answer session with the press (presumably just before a major show), Belz asks Richter how he feels about his fame. Richter looks a bit reticent, then says that, well, it's all part of the thing, isn't it. At another point, working in his studio, he looks into the camera and says, I don't like the camera. It makes we walk differently. Clearly his personality has interior depths, and he is reluctant to reveal himself, or unsure how to express himself in that way.At another time, he says that we do art in private, it is a private act, but then we have to put it on display. I get the feeling that, for Richter, that exposing of the private act may be uncomfortable -- but, as with the press conferences, it is "part of the thing".The conversation with art historian Buchloh is excerpted in the main part of the film, but the full 23-minute conversation is shown in the special features. The conversation is easy and confiding, clearly between two men of an age who have known and respected each other for years. The two men discuss the paintings Richter has hung in the office of his studio, and to me this was a highlight of the film. That conversation is, tangentially, part of an answer to the question "What makes it good".I wished the film had touched more on Richter's earlier work -- his photorealistic paintings, his use of enlarged photos partially covered by abstracts. But perhaps the en media res quality of the film, the feeling of seeing Richter in the moment, without narration, without external explanation or analysis, is the best way to address the unanswerable question, What makes a "painting"? When is a work of art "good"?

What an interesting documentarty. I was intrigued by the "block" that being observed was to him. The reveal of the inner workings of this marvelous talent was wonderful to watch. I will be watching this over and over again. Unfortunately for me, I don't get to go to Europe anymore, so I won't be seeing any of his work unless they do a retrospective of his work here in the mid-West in the near future. I wish that my own art work was so well received. But, as an artist, I paint for myself first, and for anyone else that may like it, I thank them.Also like Richter, I paint in watercolors, oil, acrylic, and latex & enamel house paints. I do landscapes, seascapes, and abstracts. This being said, this is why I enjoyed this documentary so much, I believe that an artist NEEDS to get outside of his mainstream method in order to bring new life into it. I don't ever want the desire to be a mid-West Pollock to be lost if I can prevent the staleness of my artwork from creeping in, I hope to stay relevant to myself much as Gerhard Richter is. I commend him and salute him and thank the filmmakers for creating this salute to a modern genius.

I bought and watched this DVD and learned a lot about the life of a major artist (80 yrs. old)and the contemporary art world. From this DVD I learned that G. Richter has multiple commitments for shows, just as he works on more than one painting at a time. His assistants! build models of museums and galleries and puts little paintings on the wall. He admits that some of his paintings don't work and will have to be painted over. Gerhard doesn't entertain the camera. Once he ponders if the camera makes it impossible for him to paint a successful painting. But he does tolerate the camera and does his rather ordinary thing. With his unique tools that he has crafted he paints luscious abstract paintings and attends openings and interviews. I don't want to get lost in giving you details. Let me summarize.If you love contemporary painting this is a rare glimpse of an ordinary genius doing the business of contemporary art. Warning: sometimes it is boring. Yes, that fact is not hidden. He is not a showman like Dali. More like Picasso; it is just work. But so much is revealed. Also the soundtrack is an excellent selection of modern classical music including John Cage's Music for Marcel Duchamp.I am so glad I bought this. It is a valuable resource. I'm sure when I watch it again, subtitled when they are not speaking English, I will discover something else. I'm glad it is in my collection.

When I tried to play the DVD I got the following message:To play this BD, you must renew the encryption key.Perform a system software update to renew theencryption key.I do not know how to do this, and I should not need to do.However, I was able to download the update and get into theDVD player and the quality is very high. Mr. Richter statesthat painting cannot be explained, so I will not try.

I am an abstract painter and a lover of German art and film - so this documentary was a PERFECT combination. I was constantly hitting rewind and pausing the movie and writing down the way he describes painting...There are scenes where Gerhard is just painting and staring at the canvas and I'm not sure how interesting those segments will be for 'non artist types.' For me, I felt every though he was vocalizing. I 'know' those moments. It was exciting to have it captured so subtly.I believe any abstract painter will surely enjoy this film. ! Perfect amount of studio time, conversations, history, gallery planning, art-busy-ness, personal technique, etc.I would watch again in a heartbeat!

If you want to dive in deep behind the scenes & watch an artist make some paintings this is the video for you. A rare opportunity to get inside a painters head. The squeegees he uses are meters long full of paint & gusto. For a man of his age, he is quite incredible. I’m watching again & again.

Who knew that watching paint dry on a canvass could be such an engaging activity? To watch such a skilled artist at work is one of the most thrilling things an artist could bare witness to. Such an engaging documentary about the artist's history, his methods of working, his studio and his current show was amazing. Not since "What Remains:, Sally Mann" have I been this drawn into an artist documentary.

Un des plus grands artistes de notre époque, internationalement reconnu, à découvrir. La réalisatrice a pu le filmer pendant des mois à l'oeuvre dans son atelier. Aller sur son site internet pour découvrir les multiples facettes de son art.

Straordinario documento, tanto bello quanto raro, visto che su Richter non si trova tantissimo. Lo consiglio, non è difficile da seguire attraverso i sottotitoli e poi sono soprattutto le immagini che dicono tutto!

Génial! C'était un vrai régal pour les enfants! Ils ont apprécié le message!Vraiment toute la classe en était ravie!