Thomas Richter was born in Berlin (East) in 1955. He studied history and art education at the Karl Marx University in Leipzig from 1976 to 1978. He then attended the Weissensee University of the Arts in East Berlin from 1978 to 1983 in the section for painting and graphics. In 1987 he was involved in the artistic design of the Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz underground station in Berlin (East). As a master student, he studied at the Academy of Arts of the GDR from 1989 to 1991. Thomas J. Richter lives and works in Berlin-Friedrichshagen.