The Art Newspaper

December 03, 2011, 8:45am

The Art Newspaper at Art Basel Miami Beach

Painting is so hot right now. An abundance of Gerhard Richter's and Sigmar Polke's around Art Basel Miami isn't a fluke. Richter is subject of the documentary Gerhard Richter Painting, which had its American premiere here last evening, plus saw career-high bids for Abstracks Bild and other mind-melting paintings at Sotheby's NY last month. Meanwhile his countryman Polke, who passed away last year, set a record at Sotheby's London several months earlier for his '67 work Jungle. Just don't make the mistake of dubbing framed artwork "conservative": painting can be just as lyrical, energetic, experimental, or shocking as its three-dimensional kindred.