An abstract Richter that sold at Sotheby's this fall.

Jerry Saltz, the inimitable New York magazine critic who should only be taken so seriously on Facebook, recently put out the word that he wants a Gerhard Richter badly enough that he would gladly pay $1,000 for a convincing forgery.

The jumping off point for this Richter lust was a clip from the new movie Gerhard Richter — Painting on Nowness. Mr. Saltz went on to say:

“I have always wanted to know exactly how Richter makes these beauties. This little 3-min clip gives an idea of how he does it. Offer: I will pay anyone here $1000.00 plus all-materials if you can make me a Richter that looks EXACTLY like an abstract Richter – more or less indistinguishable from the real thing. (You can sign your own name on the back of the damn thing; I just love these and want on…e.) – Below is link to a longer clip of where this film comes from. Offer: $1000.00 plus materials. I’d like a biggish one. I don’t like the green he’s working on in the whole middle of this film. The last one is nice…
A condition: I don’t pay unless two other people agree that your finsihed version is ‘more or less indistinguishable from a real abstract Richter.’ Deal?”

Again, the real takeaway here is that Richter is good and that Mr. Saltz likes him. He has, in the past, offered $10,000 to anyone who can prove the idea that “painting is dead.”

Follow Dan Duray via RSS.