Gerhard Richter’s painted photographs

“Richter was born in Dresden in 1932 to a middle class family. Like many Germans of his generation his relatives were involved in the Nazi movement. His mother’s brother, Rudi, died a young Nazi officer while his mentally disabled aunt was imprisoned in a euthanasia camp. 

Rigorous ideology and death have haunted Richter since he was a child, possibly causing his strong aversion to ideology of any kind and underpinning the attraction that nature, as an indiscriminate force, holds for him.”