18. Oktober 1977
18. Oktober 1977 is the title of a series of paintings by Gerhard Richter. It is based on photographs that document the deaths of three leading terrorists of the Baader-Meinhof Group in the Stammheim Prison after the release of the hostages in the hijacking by four members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine of Lufthansa Flight 181. The series shows events from a period of several years, from the capture of the terrorists to their burial. A youth portrait of Ulrike Meinhof occupies a special position. Description. The series consists of 15 paintings  in dull grey tones executed in oil paint after police and press photos, their contours blurred. The terrorism of the Red Army Faction (RAF), which kept the Federal Republic of Germany in suspense for ten years, is for Richter a metaphor for any ideology based on inhumanity. In an interview the artist clarifies his motives and responds to the question of whether the RAF is a victim of its own ideology: "Certainly. But not victim of a certain left- or right-wing ideology, but of ideological behaviour in general. It has more to do with the eternal human dilemma: revolutionize  and fail". The series originated between March and November 1988, ten years after the events. From hundreds of photos, Richter selected twelve motifs that he used to create 18 paintings, of which he later rejected three. Ulrike Meinhof, Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin and Holger Meins are depicted in the paintings, but the characters are neither easily identifiable by their facial features nor by the titles of the paintings. The titles and the images are kept impersonal. The level of blur of the images differs; Only Meinhof and Ensslin are recognizable because they are less blurred, the others can only be  identified after comparison with the source photos. "Tote" (English: "Dead") is the title of three paintings (62 × 67 cm, 62 × 62 cm, 35 × 40 cm, Catalogue Raisonné: 667/1-3), that show a side view of the head and shoulders of Ulrike Meinhof lying on her back after her suicide on May 9, 1976. The images become progressively more blurry as their size decreases, and the clipping varies. The painting "Erhängte" (English: "Hanged") (200 × 140 cm, Catalogue Raisonné: 668) reveals the shadowy figure of Gudrun Ensslin, who hanged herself on 18 October 1977 from the bars of  her cell in Stammheim. There was a second version that Richter did not include in the cycle and painted over ("Decke", Catalogue Raisonné: 680/3). In the paintings "Erschossener 1" und "Erschossener 2 ("English: "Man Shot Down 1" and "Man Shot Down 2)" (both 100 × 140 cm, Catalogue Raisonné: 669 / 1-2) the body of Andreas Baader can be seen lying on the cell floor. Both pictures were made after a police photo published in the Stern magazine in 1980, the second picture being more blurred. "Zelle" (English: "Cell") (200 × 140 cm, Catalogue Raisonné: 670) Shows Baader's cell  after the discovery of the suicides. Like the others, this picture refers to a police photo. It was published in Stern in 1980. The right side of the picture is dominated by a book case, with notable blurring in the vertical direction. The paintings "Gegenüberstellung 1-3" (English: "Confrontation 1-3") (112 x 120 cm. Catalogue Raisonné: 671/1-3) were based on press photos made after the arrest of Gudrun Ensslin in the summer of 1972. Richter heavily cropped the image to the upper body of the prisoners, the situation can only be conjectured from the shadow cast on the  wall. The least amount of blurring is evident in "Jugendbildnis" (English: "Youth portrait") (67 × 62 cm, Catalogue Raisonné: 672-1), that represents a 22 year old Ulrike Meinhof. The original photograph is from October 10, 1966. Relatively clear is also "Plattenspieler" (English: "Record Player") (62 × 83 cm, Catalogue Raisonné: 672-2). It takes a special role in the cycle. With tone arm resting beside the record, it seems to fix a moment of silence, but in fact the record player was the "catalyst for the tragic outcome of history"; Baader's pistol was hidden inside it, and to  the left of the machine are the cables that served Ensslin as a deadly sling. "Beerdigung" (English: "Funeral") (200 × 320 cm, Werkverzeichnis: 673) is the largest image in the series. It shows the burial of Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin und Jan-Carl Raspe at the Dornhaldenfriedhof in Stuttgart on October 27, 1977. Their three coffins are clearly visible in the centre of the painting, surrounded by an anonymous crowd of mourners. "Festnahme 1" and "Festnahme 2" (English: "Arrest 1" and "Arrest 2" ) (both 92 × 126 cm, Catalogue Raisonné: 674/1-2) are based on police photographs that were taken  during the arrest of Holger Meins, Andreas Baader und Jan-Carl Raspe on June 1, 1972 in Frankfurt am Main and that were published on June 8, 1972 in the magazine Stern. A garage yard is recognizable, with several cars, including an armoured police car. Of the arrested terrorists, only Holger Meins is visible in the second image. Exhibitions. The series was first exhibited in in Krefeld in 1989. In the same year, exhibitions at Portikus in Frankfurt am Main, the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London and Museum Boymans van Beuningen in Rotterdam followed. In 1990 the paintings were exhibited  in the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Grey Art Gallery in New York, the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal and the Lannan Foundation in Los Angeles. The series was on display at the Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt am Main, as a long-term loan from the artist until it was sold to the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1995. In 2004 it was part of the exhibition "Das MoMA in Berlin" in the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin. From February 5, 2011 to May 15, 2011 the Bucerius Kunst Forum in Hamburg showed the work  as part of the exhibition "Gerhard Richter. Bilder einer Epoche". From May 18, 2014 to September 7, 2014 the work was at the Fondation Beyeler in Riehen (Basel). From May 18, 2014 to September 2014 it was exhibited at the Fondation Beyeler in Riehen (Basel, Switzerland).