Seeing is the decisive act, and ultimately it places the maker and the viewer on the same level.Semblance is the theme of my life. All that is, seems,and is visible to us because we perceive it by the reflected light of semblance. Nothing else is visible. Painting concerns itself, as no other art does, exclusively with semblance.

This exhibition with works by Gerhard Richter is the offi-cial contribution of the Land of Nordrhein-Westfalen to the project "Deutschland in Japan 2oo5/2oo6," which itself covers many different fields. In recent years interest in Gerhard Richter's work in Japan has been fostered above all by Kiyoshi Wako through exhibitions in his gallery and accompanying publications. I-Ie was an important intermediary in the coordination of the interests of the various institutions. We should also like to express our gratitude to Yutaka Mino, Director of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, and his curators, notably Yuko Hasegawa, Chieko Kitade, and Hiromi Ohashi. At the Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art in Sakura, our grateful thanks go to the director, Kenshi Nakagawa, and to Sumi Hayashi, who managed the project in Sakura. Gerhard Richter is very highly regarded in Japan, and this is reflected in the lively interest with which this exhibition has been anticipated. It is a project that has brought people together across vast distances. No special mention need normally be made of the fact that the unique work of Gerhard Richter has been an inspiration to us all, were it not bound up with the hope that with this exhibition we can convey our own deep appreciation of his oeuvre to a yet wider public.

Gerhard Richter

edited by the

Kunstsammlung

Nordrhein-Westfalen

with an essay by

Armin Zweite

and the

Catalogue Raisonne

1993-zoo4

Kzo Kunstsammlung

Nordrhein-Westfalen, Duisseldorf

Staidtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus

und Kunstbau, Munich

Published by Richter Verlag

in association with

D.A.P / Distributed Art Publishers, Inc.