Gerhard Richter and the Technological Condition of Painting

Aline Guillermet teaches History of Art and Visual Culture at the Institute of Continuing Education, University of Cambridge and is a former Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge. Her research focuses on the impact of science and technology on artistic practices since the 1960s. She is the author of several journal articles including in Representations, Media Theory and Art History.

• IntroductionArt, science and technologyPhotographic objectivity: from representation to visualisationMethodological approach and challengesOutline of chapters1. Scientific Realism and PortraitureSolvent transfer in the photo-paintings: Richter and RauschenbergSilkscreening and blurring: Richter and WarholThe Pop portraitGerhard Richter’s Ema: Nude on a Staircase2. Photography and History PaintingPainting history from photographsThe October cycle as history painting?The photograph as "tear-image"3. Biological Chance and Landscape Painting"Painting like nature": The artistic value of biological chance From photo-paintings of landscapes to overpainted landscapes The politics of the landscape4. Electron Microscopy and the OrnamentThe Silicate paintings The politics and aesthetics of the ornamentThe digital ornamentCoda: Towards Digital PaintingBibliography

The most important painter of our times is rediscovered anew in this remarkable study: from chronophotography to electron microscopy, Guillermet reveals how Gerhard Richter’s lifelong engagement with techniques of visualisation has shaped his practice as a painter, bringing together art and science, and opening up new perspectives.