RICHTER, TRE RITRATTI PER LA PICCOLA BETTYRICHTER, THREE PORTRAITS FOR BETTY

Gerhard Richter ha realizzato tre quadri che raffigurano la sua prima figlia Babette, detta Betty. I primi due sono del 1977, mentre l’ultimo del 1988. Il più famoso e il più amato è certamente il terzo (qui Robe da Chiodi ne propone un’interpretazione tanto audace e affascinante quanto legittima). Qui sotto li ripropongo in serie con i rispettivi fogli di Atlas che riportano le fotografie dai quali sono stati tratti. Il primo e il terzo sono esposti, ma in sale diverse, nella mostra “Panorama”, ora a Londra, poi a Berlino e Parigi (ne ho già scritto qui). Vederli così vicini fa un certo effetto. Non so spiegare quale, a dire il vero.  Posso dire però due cose. La prima è che si vede in tutti e tre lo sguardo di un padre. Ciascuno esprime un sentimento diverso con il quale, immagino, un padre sia confrontato. La seconda è che Richter usa (sono tentato di dire “inventa”) tre differenti modi nuovi di realizzare un ritratto. Io dico che il più difficile da sostenere è il primo, non solo perché siamo confrontati con lo sguardo diretto di Betty. Sul terzo, quello famoso, riporto un brano del bel saggio di Achim Borchardt-Hume nel catalogo della mostra (p. 164):

In marked contrast, Betty, is resolutely looking back, albeit with the strong implication that she will soon be looking forward. The painting exudes a deep sense of nostalgia. Richeter’s adolescent daughter turns away from her father’s attempt to freeze her appearance with his camera. By extension, she also turns away from the present-day viewer. The typical Richter blur softens the painting’s photorealism and heightens the motif’s romantic aura (not unlike a photograph taken with a soft-focus lens). At the same time, it mimics the temporality oh photography, which, as Roland Barthes so aptly demonstrated, always entails a sense of loss, if not death, of something irretrievably gone.

Betty, 1977, 30 cm x 40 cm, Oil on canvas
Betty, 1977, 30 cm x 40 cm, Oil on canvas
Betty 1977 50 cm x 40 cm Oil on canvas
Betty, 1977, 50 cm x 40 cm, Oil on canvas
Betty Richter, 1978, 36.7 cm x 51.7 cm, Atlas Sheet: 394
Betty Richter, 1978, 36.7 cm x 51.7 cm, Atlas Sheet: 394
Betty, 1988, 102 cm x 72 cm, Oil on canvas
Betty, 1988, 102 cm x 72 cm, Oil on canvas
Various Subjects, 1978, 51.7 cm x 66.7 cm, Atlas Sheet: 445
Various Subjects, 1978, 51.7 cm x 66.7 cm, Atlas Sheet: 445

Tutte le immagini sono tratte da www.gerhard-richter.com

Gerhard Richter has created three paintings depicting her first daughter, Babette, said Betty. The first two are from 1977, while the last of 1988. The most famous and most popular is certainly the third (here Robe da Chiodi proposes an audacious and fascinating interpretation of it). Here I show theme together with the respective sheets of Atlas from which the photographs were taken. The first and the third are on display, but in different rooms, in the show “Panorama”, now in London, then in Berlin and Paris (I’ve already written about here). Seeing them so close together makes a certain effect. I can not explain that, actually. But I can say two things. The first is that in all three we can see the gaze of a father. Each expresses a different feeling with which, I imagine, a father is compared. The second is that Richter uses (I’m tempted to say “invented”) three different new ways to paint a portrait. I say the more difficult to sustain is the first, not only because we are faced with the direct gaze of Betty. About the third, the famous one, I carry a piece of the  beautiful essay by Achim Borchardt-Hume in the exhibition catalog (p. 164):

In marked contrast, Betty, is resolutely looking back, albeit with the strong implication that she will soon be looking forward. The painting exudes a deep sense of nostalgia. Richeter’s adolescent daughter turns away from her father’s attempt to freeze her appearance with his camera. By extension, she also turns away from the present-day viewer. The typical Richter blur softens the painting’s photorealism and heightens the motif’s romantic aura (not unlike a photograph taken with a soft-focus lens). At the same time, it mimics the temporality oh photography, which, as Roland Barthes so aptly demonstrated, always entails a sense of loss, if not death, of something irretrievably gone.

Betty, 1977, 30 cm x 40 cm, Oil on canvas
Betty, 1977, 30 cm x 40 cm, Oil on canvas
Betty 1977 50 cm x 40 cm Oil on canvas
Betty, 1977, 50 cm x 40 cm, Oil on canvas
Betty Richter, 1978, 36.7 cm x 51.7 cm, Atlas Sheet: 394
Betty Richter, 1978, 36.7 cm x 51.7 cm, Atlas Sheet: 394
Betty, 1988, 102 cm x 72 cm, Oil on canvas
Betty, 1988, 102 cm x 72 cm, Oil on canvas
Various Subjects, 1978, 51.7 cm x 66.7 cm, Atlas Sheet: 445
Various Subjects, 1978, 51.7 cm x 66.7 cm, Atlas Sheet: 445

All picture are taken from www.gerhard-richter.com