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Gerhard Richter Quotes

To make a photograph is already the first artificial act Picture Quote #1

Art should be serious, not a joke. I don’t like to laugh about art Picture Quote #1

I didn’t actually know what the protesters in the West really wanted. It was fantastic here, so much freedom, and that was what they were calling musty, middle-class, and fascistic, a bleak period. Bleak was what the GDR was, and it alone had adopted, almost unchanged, Nazi Germany’s methods of intimidation and ideas about propaganda and the use of force Picture Quote #1

Painting is another form of thinking Picture Quote #1

Good art in general aspires to something, as a good painting aspires to something, almost spiritual or holy Picture Quote #1

Turning to the colour-classification methodology: The starting point are the four pure colours red, yellow, green and blue; their in-between shades and scales of brightness result in colour schemes containing 16, 64, 256 and 1,024 shades. More colours would be pointless because it wouldn’t be possible to distinguish between them clearly Picture Quote #1

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I first came up with the idea for the colour-chart pictures back in 1966, and my preoccupation with the topic culminated in 1974 with a painting that consisted of 4,096 colour fields. Initially I was attracted by the typical Pop Art aestheticism of using standard colour-sample cards; I preferred the unartistic, tasteful and secular illustration of the different tones to the paintings of Albers, Bill, Calderara, Lohse, etc Picture Quote #1

The grey is certainly inspired by the photo-paintings, and, of course, it’s related to the fact that I think grey is an important colour - the ideal colour for indifference, fence-sitting, keeping quiet, despair. In other words, for states of being and situations that affect one, and for which one would like to find a visual expression Picture Quote #1

Unlike the photography and prints, I never catalogued, kept track of or exhibited the sketches. I sold some occasionally, but never saw myself as a graphic artist. They became more important to me thanks to the exhibition, however, and I realized that these drawings were quite interesting after all Picture Quote #1

Family photos, pictures of groups, those are truely wonderful. And they are just as good as the old masters, just as rich and just as beautifully composed (what does that mean anyway) Picture Quote #1

Every museum is full of nice things. That’s the opposite of before. It was important things or serious things. Now we have interesting things Picture Quote #1

Maybe we didn’t even have a chance. The message of American Pop Art was so powerful and so optimistic. But it was also very limited, and that led us to believe that we could somehow distance ourselves from it and communicate a different intention Picture Quote #1

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Without form, communication stops... without form, you have everybody burbling on to themselves, whenever and however, things that no one else can understand and - rightly - no one else is interested in Picture Quote #1

My landscapes are not only beautiful, or nostalgic, with a Romantic or classical suggestion of lost Paradises, but above all ‘untruthful.’ By ‘untruthful,’ I mean the glorifying way we look at Nature. Nature, which in all its forms is always against us, because it knows no meaning, no pity, no sympathy, because it knows nothing and is absolutely mindless, the total antithesis of ourselves Picture Quote #1

Picturing things, taking a view, is what makes us human; art is making sense and giving shape to that sense. It is like the religious search for God Picture Quote #1

Painting is consequently an almost blind, desperate effort, like that of a person abandoned, helpless, in totally incomprehensible surroundings Picture Quote #1

I never worked at painting as if it were a job; it was always out of interest or for fun, a desire to try something Picture Quote #1

Art is the highest form of hope Picture Quote #1

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People won’t stop painting, just as they won’t stop making music or dancing. This is a facility we have. Children don’t stop doing it or having it. On the other hand, it seems we don’t need painting anymore. Culture is more interested in entertaining people Picture Quote #1

I believe in painting and I believe in eating too. What can we do? We have to eat, we have to paint, we have to live. Of course, there are different ways to survive. But it’s my best option Picture Quote #1

I don’t believe in the reality of painting, so I use different styles like clothes: it’s a way to disguise myself Picture Quote #1

I choose depending on the way I feel; randomly, in other words. When I haven’t done anything for a long time, I always start small, on paper Picture Quote #1

I have no time for specialized concerns, working themes or variations that lead to mastery... I like the indefinite, the boundless; I like continual uncertainty. Other qualities may be more conducive to achievement, publicity, success; but they are all outworn - as outworn as ideologies, opinions, concepts and names for things Picture Quote #1

I don’t dare to think my paintings are great. I can’t understand the arrogance of someone saying, ‘I have created a big, important work.’ Picture Quote #1

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We’ve lost these qualities, these abilities to do something by hand. Some illustrators have it still, but it’s just not art. We have photography. We have cameras and computers that do it better and faster Picture Quote #1

I don’t think I can do this - painting under observation. It’s the worst thing there is, worse than being in the hospital Picture Quote #1

When I begin, theoretically and practically I can smear anything I want on the canvas. Then there’s a condition I have to react to, by changing it or destroying it Picture Quote #1

My landscapes are not only beautiful or nostalgic, with a Romantic or classical suggestion of lost Paradises, but above all ‘untruthful’ Picture Quote #1

Theory has nothing to do with a work of art. Pictures which are interpretable, and which contain a meaning, are bad pictures. A picture presents itself as the Unmanageable, the Illogical, the Meaningless Picture Quote #1

Art should be serious, not a joke. I don’t like to laugh about art Picture Quote #1

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Friendship Quotes

Motivational Quotes

Inspirational Quotes

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Text Quotes

To make a photograph is already the first artificial act (Gerhard Richter Quotes) Art should be serious, not a joke. I don’t like to laugh about art. (Gerhard Richter Quotes) I didn’t actually know what the protesters in the West really wanted. It was fantastic here, so much freedom, and that was what they were calling musty, middle-class, and fascistic, a bleak period. Bleak was what the GDR was, and it alone had adopted, almost unchanged, Nazi Germany’s methods of intimidation and ideas about propaganda and the use of force (Gerhard Richter Quotes) Painting is another form of thinking (Gerhard Richter Quotes) Good art in general aspires to something, as a good painting aspires to something, almost spiritual or holy. (Gerhard Richter Quotes) Turning to the colour-classification methodology: The starting point are the four pure colours red, yellow, green and blue; their in-between shades and scales of brightness result in colour schemes containing 16, 64, 256 and 1,024 shades. More colours would be pointless because it wouldn’t be possible to distinguish between them clearly (Gerhard Richter Quotes) I first came up with the idea for the colour-chart pictures back in 1966, and my preoccupation with the topic culminated in 1974 with a painting that consisted of 4,096 colour fields. Initially I was attracted by the typical Pop Art aestheticism of using standard colour-sample cards; I preferred the unartistic, tasteful and secular illustration of the different tones to the paintings of Albers, Bill, Calderara, Lohse, etc (Gerhard Richter Quotes) The grey is certainly inspired by the photo-paintings, and, of course, it’s related to the fact that I think grey is an important colour - the ideal colour for indifference, fence-sitting, keeping quiet, despair. In other words, for states of being and situations that affect one, and for which one would like to find a visual expression (Gerhard Richter Quotes) Unlike the photography and prints, I never catalogued, kept track of or exhibited the sketches. I sold some occasionally, but never saw myself as a graphic artist. They became more important to me thanks to the exhibition, however, and I realized that these drawings were quite interesting after all (Gerhard Richter Quotes) Family photos, pictures of groups, those are truely wonderful. And they are just as good as the old masters, just as rich and just as beautifully composed (what does that mean anyway) (Gerhard Richter Quotes) Every museum is full of nice things. That’s the opposite of before. It was important things or serious things. Now we have interesting things. (Gerhard Richter Quotes) Maybe we didn’t even have a chance. The message of American Pop Art was so powerful and so optimistic. But it was also very limited, and that led us to believe that we could somehow distance ourselves from it and communicate a different intention (Gerhard Richter Quotes) Without form, communication stops... without form, you have everybody burbling on to themselves, whenever and however, things that no one else can understand and - rightly - no one else is interested in (Gerhard Richter Quotes) My landscapes are not only beautiful, or nostalgic, with a Romantic or classical suggestion of lost Paradises, but above all ‘untruthful.’ By ‘untruthful,’ I mean the glorifying way we look at Nature. Nature, which in all its forms is always against us, because it knows no meaning, no pity, no sympathy, because it knows nothing and is absolutely mindless, the total antithesis of ourselves (Gerhard Richter Quotes) Picturing things, taking a view, is what makes us human; art is making sense and giving shape to that sense. It is like the religious search for God (Gerhard Richter Quotes) Painting is consequently an almost blind, desperate effort, like that of a person abandoned, helpless, in totally incomprehensible surroundings (Gerhard Richter Quotes) I never worked at painting as if it were a job; it was always out of interest or for fun, a desire to try something (Gerhard Richter Quotes) Art is the highest form of hope (Gerhard Richter Quotes) People won’t stop painting, just as they won’t stop making music or dancing. This is a facility we have. Children don’t stop doing it or having it. On the other hand, it seems we don’t need painting anymore. Culture is more interested in entertaining people. (Gerhard Richter Quotes) I believe in painting and I believe in eating too. What can we do? We have to eat, we have to paint, we have to live. Of course, there are different ways to survive. But it’s my best option. (Gerhard Richter Quotes) I don’t believe in the reality of painting, so I use different styles like clothes: it’s a way to disguise myself. (Gerhard Richter Quotes) I choose depending on the way I feel; randomly, in other words. When I haven’t done anything for a long time, I always start small, on paper. (Gerhard Richter Quotes) I have no time for specialized concerns, working themes or variations that lead to mastery... I like the indefinite, the boundless; I like continual uncertainty. Other qualities may be more conducive to achievement, publicity, success; but they are all outworn - as outworn as ideologies, opinions, concepts and names for things. (Gerhard Richter Quotes) I don’t dare to think my paintings are great. I can’t understand the arrogance of someone saying, ‘I have created a big, important work.’ (Gerhard Richter Quotes) We’ve lost these qualities, these abilities to do something by hand. Some illustrators have it still, but it’s just not art. We have photography. We have cameras and computers that do it better and faster. (Gerhard Richter Quotes) I don’t think I can do this - painting under observation. It’s the worst thing there is, worse than being in the hospital. (Gerhard Richter Quotes) When I begin, theoretically and practically I can smear anything I want on the canvas. Then there’s a condition I have to react to, by changing it or destroying it. (Gerhard Richter Quotes) My landscapes are not only beautiful or nostalgic, with a Romantic or classical suggestion of lost Paradises, but above all ‘untruthful’... (Gerhard Richter Quotes) Theory has nothing to do with a work of art. Pictures which are interpretable, and which contain a meaning, are bad pictures. A picture presents itself as the Unmanageable, the Illogical, the Meaningless. (Gerhard Richter Quotes) Art should be serious, not a joke. I don’t like to laugh about art (Gerhard Richter Quotes)

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