Gerhard Richter fans still giddy from his last major retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 2002—which one critic described as “a resounding hosanna of piquant, good, and great paintings”—will get another chance to savor the modern master’s art this fall when Tate Modern looks back at 50 years of his work (October 6, 2011, to January 8, 2012). Though the two shows have some pieces in common, including Richter’s seminal paintings of the terrorist Baader-Meinhof group, the Tate offers a view of less well-known works on paper and glass sculpture, along with more recent pieces like 2005’s “September,” Richter’s depiction of the 9/11 attacks, and 2000’s “Lilies,” shown here. Above all, the retrospective makes it clear that Richter—nearing 80—has yet to relinquish his obsession with history. “The questions that his art poses in galleries are ones he asks himself every day,” says the show’s curator, Mark Godfrey, who organized the exhibition with Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota. “It’s a constant provocation.”
