48 Portraits
Gerhard Richter
1978
48 Portraits
Fullscreen
PAUSE
00:00
“48 Portraits” is a series of photorealistic paintings by the German artist Gerhard Richter, created in 1971–72. The series comprises forty-eight portraits of prominent men from cultural history, selected from an initial group of 270 ...
Read more
48 Portraits
Gerhard Richter
1978
Nottingham: Midland Group Gallery
48 pages
21 × 15 cm

“48 Portraits” is a series of photorealistic paintings by the German artist Gerhard Richter, created in 1971–72. The series comprises forty-eight portraits of prominent men from cultural history, selected from an initial group of 270 figures drawn from encyclopaedias and history books. Executed in black and white and uniform in format and dimensions, the portraits depict heads symmetrically oriented towards the centre, forming a visually cohesive, slightly patriarchal, intellectual pantheon: Max Planck, Paul Valéry, Albert Einstein, Giacomo Puccini, José Ortega y Gasset, Gustav Mahler, among many others.


 


Richter first exhibited “48 Portraits” at the 1972 Venice Biennale, where he represented Germany, situating the project within the complex and troubled historical legacy of the Pavilion and its architecture. The installation is now held permanently at Museum Ludwig in Cologne. Notably, the selection comprises exclusively male figures, while their arrangement is determined by formal visual criteria rather than chronology or historical hierarchy.


 


This publication documents the first presentation of “48 Portraits” in the United Kingdom and accompanies the exhibition curated by Lynda Morris at Midland Group, Nottingham, in 1978.

Nottingham: Midland Group Gallery
48 pages
21 × 15 cm

“48 Portraits” is a series of photorealistic paintings by the German artist Gerhard Richter, created in 1971–72. The series comprises forty-eight portraits of prominent men from cultural history, selected from an initial group of 270 figures drawn from encyclopaedias and history books. Executed in black and white and uniform in format and dimensions, the portraits depict heads symmetrically oriented towards the centre, forming a visually cohesive, slightly patriarchal, intellectual pantheon: Max Planck, Paul Valéry, Albert Einstein, Giacomo Puccini, José Ortega y Gasset, Gustav Mahler, among many others.

 

Richter first exhibited “48 Portraits” at the 1972 Venice Biennale, where he represented Germany, situating the project within the complex and troubled historical legacy of the Pavilion and its architecture. The installation is now held permanently at Museum Ludwig in Cologne. Notably, the selection comprises exclusively male figures, while their arrangement is determined by formal visual criteria rather than chronology or historical hierarchy.

 

This publication documents the first presentation of “48 Portraits” in the United Kingdom and accompanies the exhibition curated by Lynda Morris at Midland Group, Nottingham, in 1978.

DESCRIPTION

“48 Portraits” is a series of photorealistic paintings by the German artist Gerhard Richter, created in 1971–72. The series comprises forty-eight portraits of prominent men from cultural history, selected from an initial group of 270 figures drawn from encyclopaedias and history books. Executed in black and white and uniform in format and dimensions, the portraits depict heads symmetrically oriented towards the centre, forming a visually cohesive, slightly patriarchal, intellectual pantheon: Max Planck, Paul Valéry, Albert Einstein, Giacomo Puccini, José Ortega y Gasset, Gustav Mahler, among many others.

 

Richter first exhibited “48 Portraits” at the 1972 Venice Biennale, where he represented Germany, situating the project within the complex and troubled historical legacy of the Pavilion and its architecture. The installation is now held permanently at Museum Ludwig in Cologne. Notably, the selection comprises exclusively male figures, while their arrangement is determined by formal visual criteria rather than chronology or historical hierarchy.

 

This publication documents the first presentation of “48 Portraits” in the United Kingdom and accompanies the exhibition curated by Lynda Morris at Midland Group, Nottingham, in 1978.

Nottingham: Midland Group Gallery
48 pages
21 × 15 cm

“48 Portraits” is a series of photorealistic paintings by the German artist Gerhard Richter, created in 1971–72. The series comprises forty-eight portraits of prominent men from cultural history, selected from an initial group of 270 figures drawn from encyclopaedias and history books. Executed in black and white and uniform in format and dimensions, the portraits depict heads symmetrically oriented towards the centre, forming a visually cohesive, slightly patriarchal, intellectual pantheon: Max Planck, Paul Valéry, Albert Einstein, Giacomo Puccini, José Ortega y Gasset, Gustav Mahler, among many others.

 

Richter first exhibited “48 Portraits” at the 1972 Venice Biennale, where he represented Germany, situating the project within the complex and troubled historical legacy of the Pavilion and its architecture. The installation is now held permanently at Museum Ludwig in Cologne. Notably, the selection comprises exclusively male figures, while their arrangement is determined by formal visual criteria rather than chronology or historical hierarchy.

 

This publication documents the first presentation of “48 Portraits” in the United Kingdom and accompanies the exhibition curated by Lynda Morris at Midland Group, Nottingham, in 1978.

MORE BOOKS

“48 Portraits” is a series of photorealistic paintings by the German artist Gerhard Richter, created in 1971–72. The series comprises forty-eight portraits of prominent men from cultural history, selected from an initial group of 270 figures drawn from encyclopaedias and history books. Executed in black and white and uniform in format and dimensions, the portraits depict heads symmetrically oriented towards the centre, forming a visually cohesive, slightly patriarchal, intellectual pantheon: Max Planck, Paul Valéry, Albert Einstein, Giacomo Puccini, José Ortega y Gasset, Gustav Mahler, among many others.

 

Richter first exhibited “48 Portraits” at the 1972 Venice Biennale, where he represented Germany, situating the project within the complex and troubled historical legacy of the Pavilion and its architecture. The installation is now held permanently at Museum Ludwig in Cologne. Notably, the selection comprises exclusively male figures, while their arrangement is determined by formal visual criteria rather than chronology or historical hierarchy.

 

This publication documents the first presentation of “48 Portraits” in the United Kingdom and accompanies the exhibition curated by Lynda Morris at Midland Group, Nottingham, in 1978.

MORE BOOKS