Gerhard Richter (i)

• Year : 1992
• Size : 153 x 227 cm

Ema is a painting of Gerhard Richter’s first wife that went through a curious process, Richter first photographed her descending a staircase and recreated the image on canvas, the canvas was then photographed as well creating an image of the same size. Ema, also called ‘Nude descending a staircase’ was clearly inspired by Marcel Duchamp’s controversial painting by the same name. Duchamp’s painting was rejected by the Cubists but it has become well recognised as a cubo-futurist work. Richter's painting however was a more European version of Pop Art, the figure is shown with blurred effects, like an image of a moving car, a reference to Duchamp's depiction of movement but also shows his dialogue with photography. While Duchamp's movement was mechanical, Richter's was sensual and classical, the blurred frontal nudity added to the softness of it. Richter’s use of painting and photography pushed out a greater statement, as cameras became more advanced, it showed that painting was still relevant, painting still had its own space to express things a photograph could not.