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Quote by Gerhard Richter

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Gerhard Richter: text : writings, interviews and letters, 1961-2007

The volume includes a selection of Richter's personal and professional correspondence, as well as his reflections on his artistic practice and thoughts on various aspects of art and life. It offers insight into the evolution of Richter's artistic philosophy and his approach to creating his renowned works. more

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Gerhard Richter
Gerhard Richter

German visual artist known for his unique painting style and diverse creative techniques. Richter's works span a wide range of styles from abstraction to figuration, and his career has spanned over half a century, profoundly influencing contemporary art. more

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“Painting is the making of an analogy for something non-visual and incomprehensible - giving it form and bringing it within reach. And that is why good paintings are incomprehensible. Creating the incomprehensible has absolutely nothing to do with turning out any old bunkum, because bunkum is always comprehensible.”

GivingFormPaintingCreatingVisualsAbsolutely NothingAnalogiesWithin Reach
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.”

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Book:Gerhard Richter: text : writings, interviews and letters, 1961-2007
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“Painting is traditional but for me that doesn't mean the academy. I felt a need to paint; I love painting. It was something natural - as is listening to music or playing an instrument for some people. For this reason I searched for themes of my era and my generation. Photography offered this, so I chose it as a medium for painting.”

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Book:Gerhard Richter: writings 1961-2007
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“But I have a problem with the term 'light'. I never in my life knew what to do with that. I know that people have mentioned on some occasions that 'Richter is all about light', and that 'the paintings have a special light', and I never knew what they were talking about. I was never interested in light. Light is there and you turn it on or you turn it off, with sun or without sun. I don't know what the 'problematic of light' is. I take it as a metaphor for a different quality, which is similarly difficult to describe. Good.”

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Book:Gerhard Richter: writings 1961-2007
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“Not since the Lord himself showed his stuff to Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones had anyone brought such grace and skill to the reconstruction of animals from disarticulated skeletons. Charles R. Knight, most celebrated of artists in the reanimation of fossils, painted all the canonical figures of dinosaurs that fire our fear and imagination to this day.”

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Author:Stephen Jay Gould
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