German artist Gerhard Richter has opened a major monographic exhibition at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, titled simply “Gerhard Richter.” The show features approximately 270 artworks, making it nearly three times larger than his 2020 retrospective at the Met Breuer in New York. Curated by former Tate director Nicholas Serota and Dieter Schwarz, former director of Zurich’s Kunstmuseum Winterthur, the exhibition is arranged chronologically to trace the evolution of Richter’s diverse oeuvre—from photo paintings and abstractions to Strip artworks and recent drawings. Highlights include early works like *Tisch (Table)* (1962), his first photo painting, and *Verkündigung nach Tizian (Annunciation after Titian)* (1973), created after his Venice Biennale debut.
This exhibition matters because it reaffirms Richter’s enduring relevance and creative vitality at age 93, five years after some critics speculated his Met Breuer retrospective might be his last. The show’s unprecedented scale and chronological structure offer a comprehensive reassessment of Richter’s career, emphasizing his conceptual rigor and resistance to easy categorization—such as the term “Capitalist Realism.” By collaborating with curators who have deep knowledge of his work, Richter ensures that the exhibition provides fresh insights into his practice, while also cementing the Fondation Louis Vuitton’s role as a premier venue for major artist retrospectives.