Gerhard Richter: Birkenau

Gerhard Richter’s (born 1932) 2014 series Abstrakte Bilder 937/1-4, known as the Auschwitz Cycle, are based on four photographs that prisoners took of an execution in Birkenau concentration camp in 1944. These images have preoccupied Richter for years, and making photos of details of works that are important to the artist has long been crucial for his working method. This book arose as a consequence of the artist’s photographic engagement with the Auschwitz Cycle. For this volume, Richter photographed numerous details and laid them out on tables in his atelier. He then chose 93 photos which he arranged, cut as full pages, as single or double pages. The flow and dramaturgy of the book were created following personal choices rather than a specific concept.