Introduction
Gerhard Richter is an exemplary German mural artist whose career spans over four decades. Unlike most painters, Richter is unique due to his diverse painting styles and views on historical and political ideologies. A keen analysis of Richter’s paintings depicts him as an individual who attacks implicit ideologies in society.
In the article “The Artist and the Terrorist, or, The Paintable and the Unpaintable: Gerhard Richter and the Baader-Meinhof Group,” Alex Sanchez examines one of Richter’s major and controversial works, “18 October 1977.” Richter’s painting touches on the most sensitive political topics of the time that most people avoided discussing. By portraying the mysterious deaths of the Baader-Meinhof group, Richter sets himself as a bold political painter using art to explore various themes in a country with a controversial past. Even though several themes are noticeable, the most dominant ones are memory, undermining ideology, and political advocacy.
Central Themes in Richter’s Painting
Richter witnessed firsthand the atrocities of the fascist and authoritarian regime of the Nazi Party in Germany. The strictness and cruelty of the Nazis instilled so much fear in the citizens, including the artist, to the extent no one could portray the situation in their art. However, Richter kept the memory alive by bravely tackling topics other painters avoided throughout his career.
Memory
In Danchev’s article, the theme of memory in Richter’s “18 October 1977” is explicit. Most of the paintings are repeated at least three times, with each instance blurring more than the previous. For example, in the painting “Dead,” the third painting is more blurred compared to the first one. Such an idea indicates people’s memory of forgetting the occurrences gradually. In that case, Richter made the paintings as an artistic remembrance of the lives and deaths of the Baader-Meinhof group. As much as it was a terrorist group, the images remind the people of the state’s brutality when a competing faction threatens its powers.
Ideology
Besides the theme of memory, Richter’s work depicts the idea of undermining ideology. Throughout his career, Richter tried to explore all the topics perceived as taboo or unprintable. For example, writing or painting publicly about the flaws of the Nazi regime was frowned upon due to the high risks it attracted (Hirsch 105). Most artists and writers were afraid because they could be arrested or questioned.
Nonetheless, Richter attempted to lessen the fear and skepticism surrounding such thinking. Richter’s “18 October 1977” paintings are presented in a series of portraits spanning ten years, during which the Baader-Meinhof group terrorized the German government. The artwork depicts the capture of the members of the group and their dead bodies. Even though the Baader-Meinhof group were terrorists, Richter’s portraits attempt to show that they were human and did not deserve such brutal deaths due to their competing ideology.
Political Advocacy
Political advocacy is another significant theme of importance to the artist depicted in his paintings. A keen analysis of Richter’s paintings, especially the “18 October 1977,” shows that the Baader-Meinhof group was political advocates. After the Second World War, Germany entered a recovery phase, politically and economically. However, within the government, there were still active Nazis who continued to influence Nazi ideas (Ray 70). As a result, the country was still held hostage by the Nazis, infuriating the German youth who wanted freedom and quick economic recovery.
Youth organized themselves into different groups and started protesting for political rights. The Red Army Faction, the Baader-Meinhof group, is an excellent example of such a clique. The mysterious killings of the group’s members resulted in agitation and violence. Thus, the government perceived the Baader-Meinhof group as a deadly terrorist division, even though it initially started as an organization of individuals fighting for political freedom.
Artistic Strategies and Mediums in Expressing the Themes
Richter refers to the themes using different media and strategies. Firstly, the artist used carefully chosen words to vividly describe the main ideas. For example, while relating to the theme of memory, Richter remembers the Baader-Meinhof group by saying, “I was impressed by the terrorists’ energy, their uncompromising determination, and their absolute bravery” (Danchev 10).
Richter acknowledges the terrorists even though they are dead and unmentioned. The exact phrase also speaks volumes of the group’s political advocacy. The members’ bravery, determination, and energy caused trouble for the government by challenging their political ideologies.
Secondly, the artist depicted the scenarios using dull grey tones of oil paint that can be understood to delineate the politically conservative era of German society during the uprising of the Baader-Meinhof group. The paintings are also blurred, representing the presence of horror that made most people avoid talking about the flaws of the state. Combining these media and strategies exposes the key themes the artists explore.
Conclusion
Overall, memory, undermining ideology, and political advocacy are the course’s key themes that seem most important to Richter. These ideas dominate the artist’s paintings, indicating their significance during his time. Richter’s work revolves around Germany’s controversial past, highlighting the uprising of the Baader-Meinhof group and their mysterious death. The artist combines words and specific painting styles, such as using dull grey tones and blurring the paint to depict the political flaws of the state and the brutalities against those opposing the government.
Works Cited
Danchev, Alex. On Art and War and Terror. Edinburgh University Press, 2009.
Hirsch, Mary. “Surviving Images.” The Generation of Postmemory Writing and Visual Culture after the Holocaust. Columbia University Press, 2012.
Ray, Gene. “Mirroring Evil: Auschwitz, Art and the “War on Terror.” Terror and the Sublime in Art and Critical Theory: From Auschwitz to Hiroshima to September 11. Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.