Gerhard Richter: 4900 Colours

Composed of bright monochrome squares randomly arranged in a grid to create stunning sheets of kaleidoscopic color, Gerhard Richter's 4900 Colors (2007)--the latest result of the artist's long-term exploration of seriality--was created just following the completion of his design for the south transept window of Cologne Cathedral, unveiled in August 2007, which is made of 11,500 hand-blown squares of glass in 72 colors. 4900 Colors consists of 196 panels of 25 different colored squares that can be reconfigured in 11 variations, from one large-scale piece to multiple, smaller paintings. Version II--49 identically sized paintings, each 38 x 38 inches--was produced for Richter's 2008 Serpentine Gallery exhibition, also catalogued here, alongside texts by critics Benjamin Buchloh, Peter Gidal and Birgit Pelzer as well as Serpentine Director, Julia Peyton Jones and Serpentine Co-Director of Exhibitions Hans Ulrich Obrist.