Townscape Sa 2
- Date
- 1969
- Material
- Oil on canvas
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- Modern and Contemporary Art
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 49 x 49 in. (124.5 x 124.5 cm)
framed: 49 1/8 x 49 1/8 in. (124.8 x 124.8 cm) - Credit Line
- The Siteman Contemporary Art Fund, partial gift of John and Sally Van Doren and Mr. and Mrs. Ronald K. Greenberg, Friends Endowment Fund, and Museum Purchase
- Rights
- © Gerhard Richter 2019
- Object Number
- 67:2001
NOTES
While this painting appears to represent an aerial view of a cityscape, Gerhard Richter actually based its composition on a black-and-white photograph of a now-lost architectural model. Appropriating that image, Richter’s painting alludes to the types of streamlined, mass-produced buildings erected throughout Germany in the 1960s following the destruction of World War II (1939–1945). Richter’s brushy, gestural paint application softens the utilitarian, geometric forms of the model buildings, such as flat roofs, horizontal windows, and white walls.
Provenance
1969 - still in 1971
Gustav Adolf Baum and Stella Baum, Wuppertal, Germany [1]
Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, St. Louis, MO, USA
- 2001
Ronald K. and Jan Greenberg, and John and Sarah Van Doren, St. Louis, MO
2001 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Ronald K. and Jan Greenberg, and John and Sarah Van Doren [2]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is a letter from the Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, written the year the piece was accessioned by the Museum [SLAM document files]. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[1] According to a 1971 publication, this painting entered the collection of Gustav Adolf and Stella Baum in 1969. This provenance record is also supported by an inscription on the back of the canvas ["Fünf Sammler - Kunst unserer Zeit". Wuppertal: Von der Heydt-Museum, 1971, ill. 16].
[2] Undated bill of sale from Ronald K. and Jan Greenberg, and John and Sarah Van Doren [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, December 4, 2001.
Gustav Adolf Baum and Stella Baum, Wuppertal, Germany [1]
Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, St. Louis, MO, USA
- 2001
Ronald K. and Jan Greenberg, and John and Sarah Van Doren, St. Louis, MO
2001 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Ronald K. and Jan Greenberg, and John and Sarah Van Doren [2]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is a letter from the Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, written the year the piece was accessioned by the Museum [SLAM document files]. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[1] According to a 1971 publication, this painting entered the collection of Gustav Adolf and Stella Baum in 1969. This provenance record is also supported by an inscription on the back of the canvas ["Fünf Sammler - Kunst unserer Zeit". Wuppertal: Von der Heydt-Museum, 1971, ill. 16].
[2] Undated bill of sale from Ronald K. and Jan Greenberg, and John and Sarah Van Doren [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, December 4, 2001.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.