On 18 May, one of Gerard Richter's major works, 4096 Farben was auctioned in New York. A buyer purchased the work for 21.8 million dollars. Bastienne Leuthe, Head of Contemporary Art, Germany at Sotheby's, was in the sale. She is a proven Gerhard Richter art expert and gave Alethea Magazine a deep insight into the work and this creative period in Gerhard Richter's life.

The work also has a very special relationship to Düsseldorf, because it was in the Düsseldorf paint shop Sonnenherzog in the early 1970s that Gerhard Richter found the colour sample cards on display so fascinating that he began working on the Colour Chart paintings. In the years that followed, he developed and perfected them further. The reason for 4096 Farben being one of the main works of this creative period is explained in the interview. 4096 Farben is also deeply connected with Cologne, where Gerhard Richter lives. In 2002, he was asked to design the south window of the Cologne Cathedral and by chance 4096 Farben became his source of inspiration. Now, that 4096 Farben is passing into a private collection, one wonders, if the work will be shown to the public again? Bastienne Leuthe is confident, because loans to museums ennoble a work and are also a tribute to the collectors.

Read the fascinating details about 4096 Farben in the interview:

3 July 2023

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ART

Name: Bastienne Leuthe

Occupation: Head of Contemporary Art, Germany at Sotheby's

"4096 Farben is the brilliant finale of his third series. It is the only work in which each colour is repeated four times."

Can you describe how the auction in New York and the sale of 4096 Farben went?

4096 Farben was sold as one of our great highlights in our Contemporary Evening auction on 18 May. In our spacious galleries in New York, the work looked fantastic, museum-like. There was a positive energy when three clients started to bid on this lot. Three colleagues were bidding with these clients on the phone: my American colleagues Lisa Dennison and Grégoire Billault and my colleague Alex Branczik from Hong Kong.

In London in October last year, we sold the very first Colour Chart painting by Gerhard Richter, 192 Farben from 1966, the only work from the series in oil on canvas. To have the opportunity to sell one of the most important Colour Chart paintings from the later series so soon afterwards was very exciting. 4096 Farben is dated 1974. He produced a small series in 1971, but the deep exploration began in 1973 and 1974. 4096 Farben is the most important work because it has the strongest visual effect. It is the only work in which the colours are repeated four times. The artist goes without white stripes that separate the colours.

4096 Farben by Gerhard Richter, Courtesy of Sotheby's

But there is also a large Colour Chart Painting in Paris?

The peak of this series in the 1970s was 4096 Farben. In 2007 he produced a large, commissioned work for the Fondation Louis Vuitton and revived the theme of the Colour Chart paintings in the series 25 Colours (2007) and Quattro Colori (2008). He never let the theme of Colour Chart paintings go.

What is also special is that he left out the white stripes.

The works from the 1960s refer very much to the colour sample cards, he found in a shop in Düsseldorf. These works have a depictive quality. In the 1970s, in his work 1024 Farben, he moved away from framing and removed the pictorial character of the works for the first time. Richter deliberately wanted to remove the subjective artist's personality from the works and to provide space to a professional surface. From 1973 onwards, he employed an assistant for the first time, because the work on the Colour Chart paintings was physically very strenuous.

In the earlier works, he chose the arrangement of the colours as he found them interesting. In the later works, the arrangement was random. This was also to be able to take himself even more out of the process of creation.

"A great stroke of luck. Always going one step further, new ways, new techniques, new compositions, a new style."

The first Colour Chart painting, 192 Farben, which we sold in London in October 2022, was the first work in which Richter moves towards abstraction following the series of photographic works. The work was created directly after the grandiose work Ema (Nude on the Stairs), which is in the Museum Ludwig. With this work he had achieved a great coup, and after that he didn't really know what to do next. Even when he had painted the first Colour Chart painting, he wasn’t sure how good the series was. His close friend Konrad Lueg visited him in his studio and was enthusiastic about the Colour Chart paintings. Gerhard Richter is quoted as saying that he felt the series was a great stroke of luck.

The change from photographic images to the Colour Chart paintings was a great risk. And this is what distinguishes Richter as an artist. Always going one step further, new ways, new techniques, new compositions, a new style.

Are there any Colour Chart paintings on the market now?

For now, I don't know of any Colour Chart paintings on the market. The condition of the works is usually problematic. The first Colour Chart painting was oil on canvas, but after that he worked with industrial lacquer paints. The oil was too personal for him, and he didn't want a traditional aesthetic look, but a neutral industrial character. However, the lacquers did not all have the same durability and therefore many works are in less good condition. Fortunately, in the case of 4096 Farben, the condition was good.

In which Düsseldorf shop did he find the colour cards?

It was the Düsseldorf based family business Sonnenherzog, then in Herzogstrasse, where many artists in Düsseldorf bought their paints.

4096 Farben was also the inspiration for the cathedral window?

In 2002, shortly after his major retrospective at the MOMA, Richter was asked whether he could imagine creating a new stained-glass window for the cathedral. As an artist living in Cologne, Gerhard Richter was enthusiastic about this request. The brief was to relate to the six martyrs of the 20th century. He did not feel up to this task and considered turning down the commission as he did not want to visualise these martyrs. By chance, he had a large image of 4096 Farben at hand, which he placed under the pattern of the window.

"He had to use darker colours and to achieve a calmer and more contemplative effect"

In the first outlines, he noticed that the colours were too bright, and some even appeared white. He had to use darker colours and to achieve a calmer and more contemplative effect, he mirrored some of the colours. There is also a film about the cathedral window. An innovative process was utilized to ensure that the window could withstand strong sunlight and the glass could expand and contract again.

Since 4096 Farben is now privately owned, will it be seen again one day?

Most certainly. The work was in many important exhibitions when it was privately owned. It is a certain ennoblement for a work of this calibre to be part of important exhibitions and collectors can also view this as a credit for their activities when the work is requested for outstanding exhibitions.

What was your path into art like?

I grew up in an art-loving family and was allowed to advise my father on purchases. At an early stage it was clear to me that I wanted to work in the art trade. I studied business administration and art history and while studying I had my first internship at an auction house and stayed in this business. Here, it never gets boring.