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Woman Descending the Staircase (Frau die Treppe herabgehend)

Painting resembles a blurry, blue photograph of woman wearing a shiny dress.
© Gerhard Richter

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  • Painting resembles a blurry, blue photograph of woman wearing a shiny dress.

Date:

1965

Artist:

Gerhard Richter
German, born 1932

About this artwork

Throughout his career, Gerhard Richter has alternated between figuration and abstraction. Woman Descending the Staircase is one of Richter’s photo paintings, figurative works in which the artist transferred found photographs, such as personal snapshots or media images, onto canvas and then dragged a dry brush through the wet pigment, thus blurring the image and rendering the forms elusive. Here, the slightly out-of-focus quality reinforces the motion of an unknown, glamorously dressed woman descending a set of stairs. The work’s silver-blue brushwork suits the elegance of the subject with her glistening evening gown and diaphanous scarf. The composition’s subject and title evoke Marcel Duchamp’s famous work Nude Descending a Staircase (1912; Philadelphia Museum of Art). When it was exhibited in the United States at the 1913 Armory Show, Duchamp’s painting shocked Americans for its radical abstraction. Rather than honoring this modernist icon, Richter protested it, stating that he “could never accept that it had put [an end], once and for all, to a certain kind of painting.” Indeed, in the Art Institute’s work, Richter produced a hauntingly sophisticated image that floats between reality and illusion.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Contemporary Art

Artist

Gerhard Richter

Title

Woman Descending the Staircase (Frau die Treppe herabgehend)

Place

Germany (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1965

Medium

Oil on canvas

Inscriptions

On verso, signed and dated “Richter 65” “Sept. 65” at middle right; “No. 1 (200x130 cm)” on bottom stretcher; “unverkäuflich” and “Eigentümer: Sammlung Wasmuth” written at top right and crossed out; “Frau, die Treppe herabgehend” written at top right.

Dimensions

198 × 128 cm (79 × 51 in.)

Credit Line

Roy J. and Frances R. Friedman Endowment; gift of Lannan Foundation

Reference Number

1997.176

Copyright

© Gerhard Richter

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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