This essay explores several paintings produced by the contemporary artists Gerhard Richter and Antoni Tàpies. The discussion illustrates the artists’ use of technique, showing various differences between the two stylistically and conceptually. However, through the exploration of their individual output, a fascinating similarity arises. The similarity offers the following thesis: in their paintings, Richter and Tàpies convey memory and identity through their particular uses of matter and layering. Memory and identity are products of each artist’s own history. The histories they represent, both personal and collective, are opaque and socially problematic. Their representation is resolved through the artists’ use of reference, symbolism and visual technique. Technique is employed through Richter and Tàpies’s specific manipulation of matter and layering, which albeit visually different, lends to the common goal of conveying complex histories. The paper addresses painting’s ability to represent the past by re-contextualizing it in the present.