Here are two examples. Abstraktes Bild 616, painted in 1986 and sold for $ 26,5M including premium by Sotheby's on November 13, 2013, is inspired by the rose garden in Giverny. Abstraktes Bild 643-1, painted in 1987 and sold for £ 14.1M including premium by Sotheby's on July 1, 2015, is a direct evocation of the London Towers by Monet.
In 1990, the technique of the squeegee opens new developments in the abstract expression by Richter, especially when traditional abstract forms come in addition to the rake's drippings.
Richter revisits his favorite inspirations. The series 725 expresses the water materialized by floating objects and localized by reflections. 725-1, sold for £ 7.2 million including premium by Sotheby's on February 15, 2011, is a first attempt in a dual composition with an overall size of 225 x 200 cm.
725-4, oil on canvas of the same size, appears as the favorite opus of the artist in this series. Richter kept it in his collection until an exhibition of his works in Nîmes in 1996. It is estimated £ 14M for sale by Sotheby's in London on February 10, lot 25.
I see in this painting a flotilla of Monet's water lilies that ensures the perception of the invisible water surface, although this interpretation is not proposed by the auction house.
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"Picturing things, taking a view, is what makes us human" – #GerhardRichter (1962) https://t.co/bPQGKetvvs pic.twitter.com/xQGPecqozl
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) January 20, 2016