The Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris has opened a monumental retrospective exhibition dedicated to Gerhard Richter, one of the most influential contemporary painters of our time. The German artist, born in 1932, has personally selected 270 of his works for this comprehensive showcase, which runs until March 2, 2026. The exhibition offers visitors an unprecedented opportunity to explore the vast creative universe of an artist whose work defies easy categorization.
Richter's artistic journey began in Dresden, where he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts before developing his distinctive approach to painting. Since 1962, the artist has continuously navigated between seemingly contradictory artistic territories, creating works that oscillate between abstraction and figuration. His oeuvre encompasses abstract compositions with colors spread across large canvases, misty countryside landscapes, tragic historical scenes drawn from popular magazines, and melancholic still lifes.
The exhibition reveals the remarkable diversity of Richter's artistic expression, featuring intimate portraits of loved ones that are deeply moving in their intimacy, as well as monumental triptychs with free-flowing forms. Many of these powerful works have never been displayed in France before this retrospective, making the exhibition particularly significant for French audiences. The artist's exploration of pictorial art has been obsessive and thorough, with each phase of his career contributing to a complex artistic legacy.
Throughout his career, Richter has imbued his canvases with the colors of his emotions and the pain of history, creating works that resonate with both personal and collective experiences. His paintings reflect a deep engagement with the visual culture of his time, transforming images from magazines and photographs into powerful artistic statements that question the nature of representation itself.
The Fondation Louis Vuitton, located at 8 Avenue du Mahatma Gandhi in the Bois de Boulogne, provides an ideal setting for this major retrospective. The exhibition demonstrates why Richter remains one of the most compelling figures in contemporary art, whose work continues to challenge viewers' perceptions of what painting can achieve in the modern era.
