128 details from a picture (Halifax 1978) [The Nova Scotia Pamphlets 2]

128 black & white illus. 1 p.l., 64, [1] p. colophon. 8vo, pictorial softcover. Halifax, Canada: The Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, 1980.


First edition, now scarce on the market, of Richter’s beautifully laid-out artist’s book that meticulously documents one of his paintings; edition of 500 copies. From Richter’s note in-fine: “In the summer of 1978 I took photographs of the surfance of an oil sketch on canvas (78 x 52 cm, 1978 – it had been previously exhibited in my exhibition Pictures at the Anna Leonowen’s Gallery of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design). The photographs were taken from various sides, (truncated) from various angles, various distances and under different light conditions. The resulting 128 photographs were organized in two versions: one, the sequential order that is presented here under the covers of a book, and a second version which is presented pictorially in grid-form (128 details from a picture II, 1978, 127 x 400 cm, photographs on board, framed, Collection Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Krefeld).”


A near fine copy. The cover was designed by John Salmen.


❧ Heinrich Miess, ed., Gerhard Richter, Bibliographie: Kataloge – Künstlerbücher – Monographien – 1962-2022 (2023) 25. (Inventory #: 10863)