Heiner Friedrich

1968

A first holiday in Corsica and the start of his landscapes

After his first holiday, an excursion that left him besotted with the terrain of Corsica, Richter begins his independent series of landscapes in 1968; they have since formed a separate group in his oeuvre. Elements of landscape had appeared in his painting as early as 1963.

from 1971

Professor at the Düsseldorf Academy: Struth, Schütte, Genzken

In 1971 Richter returns to the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf as a professor and works there for over 15 years; among those who studied with him between 1971 and 1994 were Thomas Schütte, Thomas Struth and Isa Genzken, who became his second wife. He also taught as a visiting professor in Hamburg and at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.

1972

The German pavilion at the Venice Biennale, for Richter alone

In 1972 Richter represents Germany at the Venice Biennale: for the first time in its history a whole pavilion is given to a single artist.

1972

Ten days in Greenland, alone

In 1972 Richter embarks on a ten-day trip to Greenland to experience and record the desolate arctic landscape; his friend Hanne Darboven was meant to accompany him, but he travels alone. In 1976 four large paintings, each titled “Seascape”, emerge from the Greenland photographs.

1972

“Atlas” is first shown in Utrecht: 315 parts

In 1972 the Museum voor Hedendaagse Kunst in Utrecht first shows “Atlas of Photos and Sketches” (Atlas der Fotos und Skizzen), 315 parts in all. The work keeps growing, to some 4,000 photographs, reproductions and cut-out details on about 600 panels; it was later shown in full at the Lenbachhaus in Munich (1989), the Museum Ludwig in Cologne (1990) and the Dia Art Foundation in New York (1995).

30 June 1972 – 8 October 1972

Exhibition: Documenta 5