German painter Gerhard Richter stands in front of his work 'Phantom Interceptors' during a press preview for his exhibition downtown Prague, Czech Republic, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. The exhibition starts on April 26, 2017 and last until Sept. 3, 2017. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Republished April 25, 2017 - 6:03 AM
Original Publication Date April 25, 2017 - 4:26 AM
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - German artist Gerhard Richter, whose paintings have sold at record prices, has opened his retrospective exhibition at Prague's National Gallery.
The gallery has put on display almost 80 works by Richter, one of the most influential contemporary artists, in what is the first such exhibition in Central and Eastern Europe.
The works cover the entire career of the 85-year-old, including his first work of photographic realism — blurred paintings based on real photographs — of the 1960s and the later abstract paintings he is known for.
They include a series called "Birkenau," a reflection of horrors in the Nazi Auschwitz death camp.
In the 1960s, Richter donated one of his paintings, "Uncle Rudi," to Lidice, a Czech town destroyed in 1942 by the Nazis, who also killed all its 173 male citizens. The portrait is of Richter's uncle as a Nazi soldier.
Born in what after the war became communist East Germany, Richter fled for West Germany in 1961.
He said in Prague on Tuesday he was inspired by the great masters of the past such as Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Duerer and many others. He said he also was influenced by the contemporary post-war art scene including conceptual art, Pop Art and other styles.
"There's uncertainty in it, uncertainty about what to do next," he said about the changes in his paintings. "There's chaos in it. A loss of orientation. I'd like to try something new. One does what he can."
In 2015, a 1986 painting by Richter, "Abstract Painting," sold for $46.3 million. It is an auction record for a work by a living European artist.
Prague's exhibition runs from Wednesday until Sept 3.
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If You Go: Most of the works are exhibited in the Kinsky Palace at the Old Town Square in the heart of the Czech capital, while a few more paintings are on display at the nearby Convent of St Agnes of Bohemia.
Admission fee: 250 koruna ($10). Discounts for seniors, family, children and students.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017