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From the mid 1960s until about 1977, Richter showed his interest in the issues of chance and denial of subjectivity through these color chart paintings. The colors, decided according to a mathematical key where tonal combinations of red, yellow and blue, are chosen methodically, and do not depend at all on the artist's decisions. Ellsworth Kelly also used this method of chance in what were called his anti-compositional paintings because of their arbitrary nature of production. While Kelly specifically wished to avoid any human decision in the work (which of course was impossible since he had to choose the size of the canvas, or the method involved in the "chance" process), Richter was interested in different modes of composition. Color charts took the artist further from his traditional education, and they illustrate his view that, in a modern world, artists can no longer create idealized figures from their minds but must resort to working within structures.
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