{"product_id":"daniel-richter-freunde","title":"Daniel Richter – Freunde","description":"\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eFreunde\u003c\/em\u003e by Daniel Richter is a signed limited edition lithograph from 2003, produced in a rare edition of just 20. Against a near-total black ground, a jagged white starburst cracks open the upper register of the composition like a flare or detonation, while below it a ghostly white figure — appearing to be Uncle Sam — rides atop a grey elephant draped in stars and stripes, torch raised overhead. The elephant, instantly legible as the Republican Party's mascot, appears steered rather than ridden: a figure of American symbolism directing the GOP rather than simply standing beside it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eThe title is pointedly ironic. In the immediate aftermath of September 11, 2001, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder had spoken of Germany standing more closely with its \"American friends\" than ever before. By 2003, that friendship had fractured: Schröder built his re-election campaign on refusing German participation in the Iraq War, breaking publicly with Washington just as Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld pushed the invasion forward. \u003cem\u003eFreunde\u003c\/em\u003e — \"Friends\" — lands as deadpan commentary on that reversal, executed with the blunt, poster-like economy of lithography rather than painterly nuance. The image refuses to resolve into either solidarity or condemnation, characteristic of Richter's move from pure abstraction into the media-saturated, politically charged figuration that defined his work in this period.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eHand-signed and numbered in pencil. Edition of 20.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Daniel Richter","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54237127934294,"sku":null,"price":3600.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0902\/3035\/8358\/files\/Richter-Daniel_Freunde.jpg?v=1781779532","url":"https:\/\/mltpl.art\/products\/daniel-richter-freunde","provider":"MLTPL","version":"1.0","type":"link"}