Marian’s Other Richters: New Year’s Card

a landscape oriented gerhard richter schmear of red green blue and white paint on the top half of a cream card, with tiny pencil lines tracing down from paint dots to the bottom edge of the paper, and an inscription wishing marian [goodman] a very happy new year from gerhard and family written in a hand that does not look like any of gerhard's handwriting i've seen but why should it
Gerhard Richter, Untitled [sic], 2001, oil, ink and graphite on paper, inscribed, “Dear Marian, have a great and happy new year/ All best, Gerhard and family,” either 8 1/4 x 11 5/8 in. or 22.2 x 21 cm, but not both, at Christie’s [update: the imperial dimension are right; it’s a big card!]

Now this is the Marian’s Richter I want to see. A squeegee New Year’s card signed from “Gerhard and family.”

thomas struth's 2002 portrait of the richter family has gerhard and sabine sitting in the chair and ottoman of the black leather eames lounger, respectively. young max, who's like 7 here? idk, sits on the edge of his father's chair and both of them place their right hands flat on the glass top of the mies coffee table. the younger daughter whose name i'm not going to look up is on the ottoman with her mother, in a black and grey wool party dress but like an austere party, and her mother holds her in place with a hand on her chest/waist, in a way that pulls the kid back a bit, tilting her head down, like she's being folded in half, but also giving the hardest look at struth's camera that would do the entire family proud. a richter painting of a skull and a richter painting of sabine's head hang on the walls behind them. if i were to buy a struth portrait of another family, it would absolutely be this one, it's terrifyingly good
“All best, Gerhard and family”: Thomas Struth, The Richter Family I, 2002, 1356 x 1942 mm sheet, c-print facemounted on acrylic, ed. 10, I think? collection: Guggenheim

Who do you think signed it, and who do you think drew the little lines down from the squeegee marks? Because this truly feels like a fun Richter family project. I hope there are 35 more in the next 35 auctions.

2 Oct 2026, Lot 5: Gerhard Richter [and family], 2001 New Year’s Card, est. $30-50,000 [update: sold for $115,200] [christies]