GERHARD RICHTER (B. 1932)

Based on a 1967 newspaper photograph, Richter's haunting image of Mao is one of the defining portraits from the artist's early Capitalist Realism phase. Working primarily from newspaper and magazine photographs, Richter and fellow artist Sigmar Polke converted the imagery destined for popular consumption into ironic criticisms of contemporary German consumer culture. The artist's choice of collotype here lends the image a ghostly quality, whilst also re-enforcing a sensibility for inexpensive 'non art' which could be disseminated to a wide audience.