Schweizer Alpen II - B3

B3 closes the Schweizer Alpen II sequence, and its composition reflects a subtle shift in the balance that defines the series as a whole. Where B2 and several earlier prints give significant weight to the white diagonals of packed snow, B3 is dominated by the grey-and-black mass of exposed rock face. Black marks are scattered more broadly and evenly across the central grey field – recording the complex topography of crevices, fissures, and shadowed ledges – giving the print a granular, textural density distinct from the sharper snow formations elsewhere in the series.

The screenprint process renders this rock texture with graphic precision. The flat tonal values of white, light grey, mid-grey, and black are sufficient to convey the physical reality of a high Alpine surface without recourse to photographic blur or tonal gradation, and the absence of any sky or horizon holds the viewer within that surface throughout. As the final impression in the sequence, B3 completes a six-print survey of Alpine terrain that is among the most graphically resolved statements in Richter's early print catalogue.