posters and photos Richter Cycle: Dead 1, 2, 3

title: Tote, 1, 2, und 3

1988. Oil on Canvas
62 cm X 73 cm

Tote 1 - click for larger image

Tote 2 - click for larger image

Tote 3 - click for larger image

These three paintings are alternately-sized versions of the same source photo. The original image is of the dead body of Ulrike Meinhof, who hung herself in her Stammheim prison cell on Mother’s Day in 1976. The original image is shocking, graphic, and gruesome; her neck having been cut through by the home-made cord she used to end her life. These images are also unique in the cycle; they represent an event that occurred more than a year before October 18, 1977. They contrast sharply from the warm, wistful image of the first painting in the series, a glamour shot of a younger Ulrike Meinhof.

Original Source Image