The cabinet exhibition "20 years of the Gerhard Richter Archive. Works, Materials, Curiosities" from December 13, 2025 to April 12, 2026 (with an interruption from January 19, 2026 to February 6, 2026) will provide an extraordinary insight into the archive's extensive holdings with selected works, exhibition models, sketches, photographs and materials. The focus is on works of art that the Gerhard Richter Archive has received as donations, such as the painting "Umgeschlagenes Blatt" (70-4) or the six-part editions "Kanarische Landschaften I" and "II", both of which were acquired for the archive by MUSEIS SAXONICIS USUI - Freunde der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden e.V.
Using room models and sketches, the exhibition presents Richter as the curator of his own work, as it is little known that the painter has been intensively involved with the presentation of his paintings since his training at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts. With a selection of portrait photographs by Anton Corbijn, Angelika Platen and Alice Springs, among others, the exhibition also takes a look at Gerhard Richter's personality. The special feature of the archive show is the unique combination of these artistic works with unusual objects from the decorative arts and everyday life. Using the Obelisco porcelain service, the 1024 Colors carpet and various record and book covers, the cabinet exhibition demonstrates how Gerhard Richter's oeuvre has found its way into the everyday lives of many people, usually unknowingly.
The Gerhard Richter Archive of the Dresden State Art Collections was founded on February 1, 2006 on the initiative of the then Director General Martin Roth. Richter had previously donated the large-format painting Fels (694) for a charity auction on the occasion of the Elbe floods in August 2002. This was followed in 2004 by an exhibition of his paintings at the Albertinum with additional loans from the artist. In this way, Dresden suddenly emerged from the catastrophe as the place with the most extensive exhibition of Gerhard Richter's work in public collections. However, the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden was not only intended to be a place of presentation, but with the Gerhard Richter Archive it also became an important site for research and communication of Gerhard Richter's work.
Using room models and sketches, the exhibition presents Richter as the curator of his own work, as it is little known that the painter has been intensively involved with the presentation of his paintings since his training at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts. With a selection of portrait photographs by Anton Corbijn, Angelika Platen and Alice Springs, among others, the exhibition also takes a look at Gerhard Richter's personality. The special feature of the archive show is the unique combination of these artistic works with unusual objects from the decorative arts and everyday life. Using the Obelisco porcelain service, the 1024 Colors carpet and various record and book covers, the cabinet exhibition demonstrates how Gerhard Richter's oeuvre has found its way into the everyday lives of many people, usually unknowingly.
The Gerhard Richter Archive of the Dresden State Art Collections was founded on February 1, 2006 on the initiative of the then Director General Martin Roth. Richter had previously donated the large-format painting Fels (694) for a charity auction on the occasion of the Elbe floods in August 2002. This was followed in 2004 by an exhibition of his paintings at the Albertinum with additional loans from the artist. In this way, Dresden suddenly emerged from the catastrophe as the place with the most extensive exhibition of Gerhard Richter's work in public collections. However, the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden was not only intended to be a place of presentation, but with the Gerhard Richter Archive it also became an important site for research and communication of Gerhard Richter's work.
