The visceral surface of Abstraktes Bild (454-4), emerging through layers of dragged paint in varying hues of orange-red and tangerine, contributes to the work’s distinct palimpsest-like quality. Depth is both insinuated and eradicated as the vibrant surface of the picture plane displays the artist’s energetic movements. However, one can be deceived by its seemingly impulsive appearance as Richter himself commented: ‘the whole thing looks very spontaneous. But in between [the layers] there are usually long intervals of time, and those destroy a mood. It is a highly planned kind of spontaneity'. (Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Gerhard Richter, Gerhard Richter: The Daily Practice of Painting. Writings and Interviews 1962-1993, Cambridge MA: MIT Press, London/UK Anthony d'Offay, 1995, p. 112)

Richter’s method for creating this work adopted a technique of building up layers of paint using a method similar to a la prima meaning ‘wet on wet’. By painting sections and then blending the top layers with the undercoat, Richter began not only to explore the levels that could be created through impasto-like application but also to discover the effects that could be developed by adding carnation oil to the painting in order to keep the layers moist throughout the process.
Thus, in Abstraktes Bild (454-4), Richter highlights one of the central paradoxes that lies at the core of his abstract experimentation; the marriage between an Abstract Expressionistic spontaneity and a planned rhythmical structure. The monochromatic works form perhaps the purest expression of Richter’s unique and vastly influential investigation into the nature of painting, and offer an insight into his most piercing of questions – “how painting could be made without treating colour as a compositional element, and how the practice of painting could continue without subjective content.” (M. Godfrey, “Damaged Landscapes”, Gerhard Richter: Panorama, p. 86)