Townscape 1968

Gerhard Richter made this painting, "Townscape," using strokes of monochrome tones like he's wiping the city away. I imagine him mixing and remixing, searching for that perfect shade of grey, each swipe of the brush a conscious decision, but also a surrender to the moment. It’s like he’s saying, “Okay, paint, take me where you want to go.” I wonder if he was thinking about the war or the relationship between memory and forgetting. The paint’s applied kinda flat, but it’s got this real tactile quality, like you could reach out and feel the history embedded in each layer. There's a clear conversation going on, not just with the subject but with painting itself. Richter, like so many artists, is wrestling with what it means to represent the world, and what new possibilities painting can offer. It's about seeing, feeling, and thinking, all at once.