Bagdad – P10

In 2014, Gerhard Richter released ‘Bagdad (P10)’, a captivating facsimile of his original painting from
2010. ‘Bagdad’ is a work behind glass, produced by first pouring bold colours of enamel paint onto a
flat surface. Naturally, the paints interact, producing at times seemingly chemical interactions and
colour blending, while retaining the strength of their pigment at others, as in the blue form at the
painting’s top.

The autonomy of Richter’s enamels was stripped when the artist laid a sheet of glass over the
painting, halting any movement by freezing the composition. The tactile quality of the psychedelic
paints is negated by the cold, smooth surface of the glass, which renders the paints intangible and
effectively adds another layer of abstraction to the work.

‘Bagdad (P10)’, a Diasec‐mounted chromogenic print on aluminium, inherently imitates this
distance from the painting while also flawlessly captures the sensibility of the paint. Yet, the work is
not solely a facsimile but an artwork in its own right. In returning to his original painting by way of
converting it into a print, Richter further abstracts the work in a manner of reversed logic to his
photo paintings, effectively harnessing a new method of abstraction.