Hans Richter
Richter's first contacts with modern art were in 1912 through the "Blaue Reiter" and in 1913 through the "Erster Deutscher Herbstsalon" gallery "Der Strum", in Berlin. In 1914 he was influenced by cubism. He contributed to the periodical Die Aktion in Berlin. His first exhibition was in Munich in 1916, and Die Aktion published as a special edition about him. In the same year he was wounded and discharged from the army and went to Zürich and joined the Dada movement.
Richter believed that the artist's duty was to be actively political, opposing war and supporting the revolution. His first abstract works were made in 1917. In 1918, he befriended Viking Eggeling, and the two experimented together with film. Richter was co-founder, in 1919, of the Association of Revolutionary Artists at Zürich. In the same year he created his first Prélude (an orchestration of a theme developed in eleven drawings). In 1920 he was a member of the November group in Berlin and contributed to the Dutch periodical De Stijl.
Throughout his career, he claimed that his 1921 film, Rhythmus 21, was the first abstract film ever created. This claim is not true: he was preceded by the Italian Futurist Bruno Corra and Arnaldo Ginna between 1911 and 1912 (as they report in the Futurist Manifesto of Cinema), as well as by fellow German artist Walter Ruttmann who produced Lichtspiel Opus 1 in 1920. Nevertheless, Richter's film Rhythmus 21 is considered an important early abstract film.
Richter moved from Switzerland to the United States in 1940 and became an American citizen. He taught in the Institute of Film Techniques at the City College of New York. While living in New York City, Richter directed two feature films, Dreams That Money Can Buy (1947) and 8 x 8: A Chess Sonata in 8 Movements (1957) in collaboration with Max Ernst, Jean Cocteau, Paul Bowles, Fernand Léger, Alexander Calder, Marcel Duchamp, and others, which was partially filmed on the lawn of his summer house in Southbury, Connecticut.
In 1957, he finished a film entitled Dadascope with original poems and prose spoken by their creators. After 1958, Richter spent parts of the year in Ascona and Connecticut and returned to painting. In 1963, he directed the short film "From the Circus to the Moon" on the American artist Alexander Calder.
Richter died in Minusio, Switzerland in 1976.
Known For | Directing |
---|---|
Most Rating | 1.334 |
Birthday | 1888-04-06 |
Place of Birth | Berlin, Germany |
Also Known As |
2011
Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film
6.7/10
Experimental filmmaker Pip Chodorov traces the course of experimental film in America, taking the very personal point of view of someone who grew up a...
Watch Now
Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film
1973
Index – Hans Richter
0/0
Dedicated to Nigel Gosling. Voice-over with Hans Richter reading a Dada text. Filmed in Locarno.
Oesterreichisches Filmmuseum, Vienna
Watch Now
Index – Hans Richter
1973
Ich lebe in der Gegenwart - Versuch über Hans Richter
6/1
Watch Now
Ich lebe in der Gegenwart - Versuch über Hans Richter
1928
Ghosts Before Breakfast
6.815/54
Hans Richter, noted for his abstract shorts, has everyday objects rebelling against their daily routine.
Watch Now
Ghosts Before Breakfast
1986
He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
8/7
A film collage tracing the story of the lives, loves, and deaths within the artistic community surrounding Jonas Mekas.
Watch Now
He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
1929
The Storming of La Sarraz
0/0
A farcical war between the forces of Commercial Cinema and Independent Cinema.
Watch Now
The Storming of La Sarraz
1969
Germany Dada
0/0
This documentary concerns the contributions of German artists to the Dadaist movement. Created in 1916, the organizers rejected previous convention an...
Watch Now
Germany Dada
2003
A Visit To Hans Richter
0/0
This piece had its world premiere as the opening film of the Hans Richter Tribute at Cinema Arsenal in the summer of 2003. The nine minutes of film ar...
Watch Now
A Visit To Hans Richter
1968
Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
7.318/22
An epic portrait of the New York avant-garde art scene of the 60s.
Watch Now
Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
1969
Dada
0/0
1967 film directed by Greta Deseson about the Dada art movement. Featuring Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, Max Ernst, Hans Richter and Gabrièle Buffet-Picabi...
Watch Now
Dada
1974
The Challenge... A Tribute to Modern Art
5.8/3
The Challenge... A Tribute to Modern Art is a 1974 American documentary film directed by Herbert Kline. The film shows footage of great modern artists...
Watch Now
The Challenge... A Tribute to Modern Art
1955
Intermediate Landing in Paris
4/1
Michèle, an employee at the airport, is in love with American pilot Eddie Miller who regularly flies the route from New York to Paris, but problems ar...
Watch Now