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Gerhard Richter

Gerhard Richter Quotes

Visual Artist

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Famous Gerhard Richter Quotes

“Of course I constantly despair at my own incapacity, at the impossibility of ever accomplishing anything, of painting a valid, true picture or even knowing what such a thing ought to look like. But then I always have the hope that, if I persevere, it might one day happen. And this hope is nurtured every time something appears, a scattered, partial, initial hint of something which reminds me of what I long for, or which conveys a hint of it – although often enough I have been fooled by a momentary glimpse that then vanishes, leaving behind only the usual thing.”

IfsLooksLongHas BeensEnoughMightHappensCoursesMy OwnBehindsKnowingPaintingOughtOne DayDespairLeavingUsualGlimpseImpossibilityInitialsPersevereHintsFooledMomentaryIncapacityAccomplishing Anything
Book:Gerhard Richter: writings 1961-2007
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“The painter sees the semblance of things and repeats it. That is, without fabricating the things himself, he fabricates their semblance; and, if that no longer recalls any object, this artificially produced semblance functions only because it is scrutinized for likeness to a familiar - that is, object-related - semblance.”

IfsObjectsPaintingFunctionFamiliarPainterRelatedRepeatsRecallsSemblanceFabricate
Book:Gerhard Richter: text : writings, interviews and letters, 1961-2007
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“If, while I'm painting, I distort or destroy a motif, it is not a planned or conscious act, but rather it has a different justification: I see the motif, the way I painted it, is somehow ugly or unbearable. Then I try to follow my feelings and make it attractive. And that means a process of painting, changing or destroying - for however long it takes - until I think it has improved. And I don't demand an explanation from myself as to why this is so.”

IfsThinkingWayTryingMeanLongArtDifferentFeelingsProcessPaintingDemandConsciousUglyTechniqueAttractiveExplanationDestroyingJustificationUnbearableMotifs
Author:Gerhard Richter
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“The urge to break with a tradition is only appropriate when you're dealing with an outdated, troublesome tradition: I never really thought about that because I take the old-fashioned approach of equating tradition with value (which may be a failing). But whatever the case, positive tradition can also provoke opposition if it's too powerful, too overwhelming, too demanding. That would basically be about the human side of wanting to hold your own.”

IfsHumansMayArtValuesSidesPowerfulBreakCasesFailingPaintingApproachTraditionOppositionAppropriateUrgesOverwhelmingProvokingOld FashionedTroublesomeOutdated
Book:Gerhard Richter: writings 1961-2007
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“A work of art is itself an object, first of all, and so manipulation is unavoidable: it's a prerequisite. But I needed the greater objectivity of the photograph in order to correct my own way of seeing: for instance, if I draw an object from nature, I start to stylize and to change it in accordance with my personal vision and my training. But if I paint from a photograph, I can forget all the criteria that I get from these sources. I can paint against my will, as it were. And that, to me, felt like an enrichment.”

IfsWayFirstsArtI CanOrderFeltMy OwnForgetVisionGreaterSeeingObjectsSourceNeededPhotographyTrainingDrawsArt IsPaintPhotographInstanceManipulationWorks Of ArtCriteriaObjectivityPrerequisitesEnrichmentPersonal Vision
Book:Gerhard Richter: text : writings, interviews and letters, 1961-2007
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“I believe I am looking for rightness. My work has so much to do with reality that I wanted to have a corresponding rightness. That excludes painting in imitation. In nature everything is always right: the structure is right, the proportions are good, the colours fit the forms. If you imitate that in painting, it becomes false.”

IfsBelieveArtRealityWantedFormI BelievePaintingFitStructureColourProportionImitationCorresponding
Book:Gerhard Richter: text : writings, interviews and letters, 1961-2007
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“I began in 1976, with small abstract paintings that allowed me to do what I had never let myself do: put something down at random. And then, of course, I realized that it never can be random. It was all a way of opening a door for me. If I don't know what's coming - that is, if I have no hard-and-fast image, as I have with a photographic original - then arbitrary choice and chance play an important part.”

IfsKnowsWayArtImportantHardPlayChoicesCoursesChanceDoorsPaintingOriginalsI RealizedOpeningAbstractArbitraryAbstract Painting
Book:Gerhard Richter: writings 1961-2007
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“Architecture was, or is, a kind of hobby, an inclination I have to fiddling around and building things. Putting up shelves or cupboards, or making tools, or designing houses ... it always has a functional or social motivation. If social changes are in the air, I am gripped immediately by the desire to build, and I think that I accelerate or anticipate changes in my life by doing so, at least in draft. In the case of my house, that was anticipation: in other words, first build, then change one's life.”

IfsThinkingFirstsKindArtDesireMotivationHouseSocialCasesAirDesignBuildingPaintingToolsArchitectureAnticipationHobbiesShelvesSocial ChangeInclinationAnticipateAccelerateChanging My LifeCupboardsBuilding Things
Book:Gerhard Richter: text : writings, interviews and letters, 1961-2007
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