Waldstück 1969

Gerhard Richter made this atmospheric oil painting, Waldstück, which translates to "Wood Piece" or "Forest Piece". You can see how it’s full of these blurry, ghostly forms in a grayscale palette, smudged together like a half-remembered dream. I can imagine Richter working on this, almost like he's trying to capture a fleeting memory. I wonder if he’s thinking about the German Romantics, like Caspar David Friedrich, who were so into sublime landscapes. But Richter’s not trying to give us a clear picture. It’s more like he's after the feeling of being lost in the woods. Look at how he drags the paint, blurring the lines between the trees and the sky. It’s like he’s saying that nothing is ever really fixed or certain. And that ambiguity, that’s where the real juice is. It reminds me of how much painting embraces uncertainty and change. It’s not about getting it “right,” but about the ongoing conversation between the artist, the painting, and us, the viewers.