Richter used a flat spatula to apply dozens of layers of paint. A book has been published which contains 33 photographs taken during the production of this work, and viewing its progress, one is astounded by dramatic changes that could not be imagined from the painting’s earlier states. “Illusion, or more accurately Schein [a German word meaning “sham or pretense” as well as “light” and “appearance”]… Light is my lifelong theme,” says Richter. The viewer can sense that the painting is layered on top of something, though it is not the canvas as a physical surface nor the layers of paint, each one perceptible in the photographs documenting the work’s creation. The secret of Schein (light, illusion), or of Richter’s obsessive repeated layering, seems to be concealed somewhere within.