Gerhard Richter, Konrad Lueg, Sigmar Polke and Manfred Kuttner coined the term 'Capitalist Realism' on the occasion of their self-organised exhibitions in Düsseldorf in 1963. Although they only used the term themselves for a short period and quickly distanced themselves from their perception as a group of artists, Capitalist Realism represented a specific conception of art in post-war West Germany that has remained controversial to this day. This exhibition publication is the first fully dedicated to this important phenomenon. The main exhibitions and actions are documented in image and text and the international, art-historical and social context is illuminated from different perspectives. Both exhibition and catalogue substantiate the topicality of one of the most intense and influential tendencies of the postwar period.