Gerhard Richter is widely seen as one of the most important painters at work in the world today. Born in Dresden, Germany, in 1932, he left for the West in 1961, settling in Dusseldorf, where he held his first exhibition in 1963. He has exhibited internationally for the last five decades, including retrospectives in New York, Paris and Dusseldorf. He lives and works in Cologne. As the artist draws near to his eightieth birthday in 2012, Tate Modern in collaboration with the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, and the Centre Pompidou, Paris, is staging a major retrospective exhibition. While many previous books have focused on one aspect of Richter's work, this stunningly illustrated survey encompasses his entire oeuvre, including photo-paintings, abstracts, land and seascapes, portraits, glass and mirror works, drawings and photographs. Nicholas Serota, Director of Tate, has conducted a new interview with Richter, covering his life and achievements. An array of international critics and curators each examine a specific period of the artist's career, bringing fresh perspectives to bear and placing individual works in the context of world events. With extensive comparative works, studio photographs, a chronology and a selective bibliography, this monumental book is a fitting tribute to one of the world's greatest living artists.