ABSTRACT Title of Document: Illusion and Disillusionment in the Works of Jeff Wall and Gerhard Richter: Picturing (Post)Modern Life Virginia Adams, Ph.D. 2007 Directed By: Professor Steven A. Mansbach, Department of Art History and Archaeology This study is a meta-critique of the discourse surrounding the emergence of large-scale, color photography around 1980 and the concurrent “return to painting” through an examination of the art praxes of Jeff Wall and Gerhard Richter. As Western avant-garde art shifted from conceptual practices toward large-scale, figurative painting and photography during the late 1970s and early 1980s, there developed a vociferous discourse that, to a large degree, was highly critical of the changes that were taking place. The most strident aspect of the discourse emanated from fundamentally Marxist critics and academicians who viewed the turn to more aesthetically-based art forms as an undesirable capitulation to the political hegemony of the conservative administration in the United States, and to a burgeoning and increasingly international art market fueled by improving economic conditions. This criticism looked less than carefully at the art and the stated positions of the artists. This study mines the critical writings about both Wall and Richter in order to illuminate the discourse and elucidate the limits of art-historical writing that arises from rigid theoretical positions. It focuses particularly on the writings of Benjamin Buchloh, Douglas Crimp, Rosalind Krauss and Jean-François Chevrier. The writings of Wall and Richter are also given considerable weight and their voices are invoked as full participants. The works of Wall and Richter involve inextricable combinations of photography and painting in very different ways, and the role of medium within the discourse is examined. In addition, the artists’ references in their works to art forms of earlier periods in the history of Modernism are also considered. Although this study focuses on the period 1976 to 1990, it pays considerable attention to connections between early twentieth century German and Russian theories of montage and the art of Jeff Wall, and Wall’s illuminated transparencies are emphasized. The geographic scope of the study includes North America and West Germany, where much of the controversy about the “return to painting” was generated, and where exhibitions of the work of both Wall and Richter occurred frequently during the study period. ILLUSION AND DISILLUSIONMENT IN THE WORKS OF JEFF WALL AND GERHARD RICHTER: PICTURING (POST)MODERN LIFE By VIRGINIA ADAMS Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2007 Advisory Committee: Professor Steven A. Mansbach, Chair Professor Saverio Giovacchini Andy Grundberg Professor William Pressly Professor Joshua A. Shannon © Copyright by Virginia Adams 2007 DEDICATION To Neal and Robin ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The help and encouragement of many people stand behind this dissertation. My professors in the Department of Art History and Archaeology at the University of Maryland provided inspiration and encouragement during my odyssey through art history that followed my career as a corporate lawyer. In particular, I thank Steven A. Mansbach, my dissertation advisor, whose brilliance permeated our discussions of my proposal through defense of the dissertation. I will always be grateful for Steven’s pointedly specific suggestions that emanated from his deep knowledge and understanding of art of the twentieth century, as well as for his perspective on this rather remarkable academic process. I also wish to thank members of my defense committee, William Pressly, Joshua Shannon, Andy Grundberg and Saverio Giovacchini, for the time that they gave to reading the dissertation and for their very engaged participation and insightful suggestions and questions during the defense. They made the defense not only challenging, but enjoyable. Wendy Grossman and Martha Bari, fellow graduate students who finished before me, provided invaluable friendship, perspective on the process, and opportunities to vent frustration and laugh about writing a dissertation. I look forward to our continued friendship and collaboration. It goes without saying that I am most grateful to my husband, Neal Friedlander, and our daughter, Robin Friedlander, who understood my desire to study art history in the depth that pursuing this degree has required, and who generously, if somewhat bemusedly, accepted the time that it has taken. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures.............................................................................................................. vi Introduction....................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: The Big Picture ........................................................................................13 The Return to Painting...................................................................................18 The Picture.....................................................................................................24 The Postmodern Picture.................................................................................25 The Tableau—an Earlier History...................................................................31 The Contemporary Picture as Tableau...........................................................35 Jeff Wall’s Pictures........................................................................................45 Gerhard Richter’s Pictures.............................................................................52 What Is a Picture? ..........................................................................................53 Chapter 2: What’s a Pure Medium?.............................................................................56 What Is a Medium?.......................................................................................60 The Postmodern Medium.............................................................................65 Another View of Medium: Rosalind Krauss ...............................................67 Krauss Rewrites Clement Greenberg’s Concept of Medium....................................................................................................81 Jeff Wall’s Medium .....................................................................................88 Wall’s Medium Critiqued ............................................................................95 Rosalind Krauss on Jeff Wall ....................................................................101 Gerhard Richter’s Photopaintings..............................................................106 Critical Response to Richter’s Photopaintings ..........................................109 Commentary on Benjamin Buchloh...........................................................119 Is There a Pure Medium?...........................................................................127 Conclusion .................................................................................................131 Chapter 3: Disillusionment: The Disruption of Scopic Pleasure in Jeff Wall’s Pictures...............................................................................133 Gestus and Gesture: The Legacy of Brecht and Benjamin........................ 139 Borders and Wires.......................................................................................157 The Radical Oblique and the Abject Subject..............................................162 Dirt and Washing ........................................................................................183 Blind Windows ...........................................................................................186 Wall’s Disillusionment ...............................................................................187 Forest Pictures.............................................................................................188 Transparency and Opacity in Gerhard Richter’s Scopic Disruptions...............................................................................................189 iv Summary Statement...................................................................................................194 Selected Bibliography................................................................................................196 v LIST OF FIGURES Chapter One: Fig. I-1. Louise Lawler, Why Pictures Now. 1981. Black and white photograph. 3 x 6 in. Fig. I-2. Gerhard Richter, Table. 1962. Oil on canvas. 90.2 x 113 cm. Fig. I-3. Gerhard Richter, Ema (Nude on a Staircase). 1966. Oil on canvas. 200 x 130 cm. Fig. I-4. Gerhard Richter, Bridge (By the Sea). 1969. Oil on canvas. 93 x 98 cm. Fig. I-5. Gerhard Richter, Two Candles. 1982. Oil on canvas. 140 x 140 cm. Fig. I-6. Gerhard Richter, Marian. 1983. Oil on canvas. 200 x 200 cm. Fig. I-7. Gerhard Richter, Annunciation after Titian. Oil on canvas. 125.4 x 200.3 cm. Chapter Two: Fig. II-1. Jeff Wall, Restoration. 1993. Transparency in lightbox. 137 x 507 cm. Fig. II-2. Gerhard Richter, Court Chapel, Dresden. 2000. Oil on canvas. 80 x 93 cm. Chapter Three: Fig. III-1. Jeff Wall, The Destroyed Room. 1978. Transparency in lightbox. 159 x 234 cm. Fig. III-2. Jeff Wall, Mimic. 1982. Transparency in lightbox. 198 x 229 cm. Fig. III-3. Jeff Wall, Outburst. 1989. Transparency in lightbox. 229 x 312 cm. Fig. III-4.