48 Portraits

In 1972 Gerhard Richter solely represented Germany at the 36th Venice Biennale with the work 48 Portraits - a series of portraits of personalities, who influenced modernity in a photorealistic manner.
During the night of December 31, 2021, to January 1, 2022, The Wa installed his exhibition „48 Portraits“ in the German Pavilion located in the Giardini della Biennale, Venice. The series consists of 43 oil paintings of shelter dogs and has been produced over a 5 year period.
It is the first uncommissioned exhibition ever to be presented at the German Pavilion
since its erection in 1909 - very likely the only intervention of this kind in the history of the world’s oldest and most prestigious biennale.