A Gift to the Nation: Gerhard Richter's Rooms in Berlin

Gerhard Richter, widely regarded as Germany's greatest living painter, made a remarkable gesture in 2023: he gifted a major body of work, including the searing 'Birkenau' cycle, to Berlin's national collection.

Dedicated Richter galleries in the capital let visitors trace the full sweep of an artist who has moved fluidly between blurred photo-paintings, vast colour charts and shimmering grey abstractions.

At over 90, Richter ensured that some of his most important works — including his meditation on the Holocaust — would remain on permanent public view in the heart of Germany.

Image: “Berlin-Tiergarten, de Neue Nationalgalerie met een expositie van Andy Warhol IMG 5718 2024-09-07 09.58” — Michielverbeek, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.