Photo By Gail

In Two Candles (1982), Gerhard Richter plays with the ambiguities of the painted image. Two lit candles seem to stand beside each other, framed by the dark shadow and white backdrop of their surroundings. Or perhaps only a single candle is shown, reflected back to itself in a mirror.

The forms are slightly blurred, as if in a photographic haze. The frozen candle flame, representing life that must one day end, is a common motif across the history of European painting. By returning to familiar symbols and painting directly from photographs, Richter is trying to erase any personal painterly style from his work.

Photographed in the Tate Modern in London