Tulips 2017

Gerhard Richter's 'Tulips' is a painting that challenges our expectations of representation. Its out-of-focus imagery prompts us to consider the very nature of seeing and recording. Painted in Germany, Richter came of age in the shadow of World War II, and his artistic project developed in opposition to both socialist realism in the East and the dominance of abstract expressionism in the West. Richter embraced a style he termed 'capitalist realism' which was a form of Pop Art. Here, his blurred realism evokes a sense of transience. We may ask what the public role of art might be in a society shaped by mass media and consumerism. How might the very institutions of art, such as the museum or the art market, shape our understanding of beauty? To explore these ideas, we can consult catalogues of Richter's work and histories of postwar German art. Only with a keen eye for the social conditions that shape artistic production can we truly appreciate the complexities of Richter's 'Tulips'.