In the early 1970s, German painter Gerhard Richter’s desire to create a new, autonomous existence for painting led to an increased fascination with the optical effects of colour. Inspired by his work on the non-representational Colour Charts and ‘grey paintings’ Richter developed a series entitled Inpaintings.

Rot-Blau-Gelb [Red-Blue-Yellow], 1973, a large-scale, mesmerizing abstraction methodically rendered from primary colours is a stellar example of Richter’s initial forays into abstraction, and an important precursor to his Abstraktes Bilder of the 1980s and beyond. In 1972, Richter began his Inpaintings series, first in tones of grey and later in the primary colours red, blue and yellow, in which he applied three separate areas of paint on a canvas and systematically moved the brush in sweeping, rhythmical strokes until the colours were blended, resulting in myriad colour combinations, an extraordinary textural surface and a sublime sense of harmonious movement. While Rot-Blau-Gelb [Red-Blue-Yellow], 1973, marks the dawn of Richter’s supreme achievements in abstract painting, the hazy, blurred effect of the feathery brushstrokes recalls the artist’s earlier photorealist paintings. It is the ability to oscillate and innovate within both realism and abstraction, the methodical and gestural, colour and grisaille, that defines Richter’s unrivalled success and longevity as an artist.