It's kind of a Gerhard Richter madhouse in the upcoming contemporary art auctions in London next week. The big man's big show at the Tate really flushed out the merch. But this little triptych of overpainted photograpsh of Richter's newborn son are pretty nice.
They were made over the course of several days in November 1999. If I recall correctly, he keeps duplicates of various snapshots in his studio, which he then presses or scrapes or smears along his used paint squeegees. And then he only keeps ones that turn out right. Like the one above that randomly left the in-camera date visible. That was obviously a keeper.
Anyway, a cute, personal way to round out your Richter collection. Or maybe save the 30,000 quid by trying it at home with your own pictures. Because if you think about it, it does seem a little nosey to be buying someone else's baby photos. Also, these do look a little like poo.
Feb. 16, 2012, Lot 293: Gerhard Richter, 3 Overpainted baby photos, 1999, est. GBP 20-30,000 [sothebys.com]
Previously, 09/2009: Overpainted kid photos by Gerhard Richter
I read "overpriced" for "overpainted" until the very last use of the word. One of those knee-jerk Richter reactions, I guess. Which turns out to have been the right one.