Art on Film | Gerhard Richter Painting

Put the art world in focus with Art on Film at SAM. Join us for award-winning documentaries, short films, and biopics that highlight some of our favorite artists, reveal untold histories, and explore what it takes to make it as an artist today. Each screening will include opportunities for discussion and connection among audience members.

Gerhard Richter Painting (2012)

Directed by Corinna Belz

Running Time: 97 minutes

Gerhard Richter Painting offers unprecedented insight into the life and work of one of the greatest artists of our time, and is a "gorgeously rendered work of art" (Variety) in its own right.

Legendary German painter Gerhard Richter granted filmmaker Corinna Belz access to his studio in the spring and summer of 2009, where he was working on a series of large abstract paintings. In quiet, highly concentrated images, the documentary provides a fly-on-the-wall perspective of the very personal, tension-filled process of artistic creation. Richter is his own worst critic, destroying multiple canvases before his remarkable creative spirit takes hold, and the astonishing final compositions emerge.

"Painting is another form of thinking," Richter once said, and GERHARD RICHTER PAINTING takes that premise seriously, exposing for the first time how he translates his thoughts onto a blank canvas. Beautifully shot and endlessly revealing, it "artfully and convincingly immerses us into the world of one of the greatest [painters], painting." (Village Voice)