--- title: "22 Paint Quotes By Gerhard Richter" description: "22 Paint quotes by Gerhard Richter. Plus more from Gerhard Richter and more Paint sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b8/gerhard-richter-2249_paint_i-can-t-paint-as-well-as-vermeer-1710666_1710666.jpg" --- > [I can't paint as well as Vermeer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/i-can-t-paint-as-well-as-vermeer/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b8/gerhard-richter-2249_paint_i-can-t-paint-as-well-as-vermeer-1710666_1710666.jpg) > [To believe, one must have lost God. To paint, one must have lost art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/to-believe-one-must-have-lost-god-to-paint-one-must-have-lost-art/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2c/gerhard-richter-2249_art_to-believe-one-must-have-lost-god-to-pai_859973.jpg) > [How could one be in this world without feeling dismayed by it? Even if one paints flowers and gingerbread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/how-could-one-be-in-this-world-without-feeling-dismayed-by-it-even-if/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ad/gerhard-richter-2249_dismayed_how-could-one-be-in-this-world-without-f_664899.jpg) > [I'm trying to paint a picture of what I have seen and what moved me, as well as I can. That's all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/i-m-trying-to-paint-a-picture-of-what-i-have-seen-and-what-moved-me/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d63/gerhard-richter-2249_art_i-m-trying-to-paint-a-picture-of-what-i_2001392.jpg) > [Well, I don't believe there are subjects that can't be painted, but there are a lot of things that I personally can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/well-i-don-t-believe-there-are-subjects-that-can-t-be-painted-but/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c42/gerhard-richter-2249_art_well-i-don-t-believe-there-are-subjects_313901.jpg) > [When I paint from a photograph, conscious thinking is eliminated. I don't know what I am doing. My work is far closer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/when-i-paint-from-a-photograph-conscious-thinking-is-eliminated-i-don/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f11/gerhard-richter-2249_abstraction_when-i-paint-from-a-photograph-conscious_612663.jpg) > [I go to the studio every day, but I dont paint every day. I love playing with my architectural models. I love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/i-go-to-the-studio-every-day-but-i-dont-paint-every-day-i-love/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4da/gerhard-richter-2249_arranging_i-go-to-the-studio-every-day-but-i-dont_885941.jpg) > [I believe in painting and I believe in eating too. What can we do? We have to eat, we have to paint,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/i-believe-in-painting-and-i-believe-in-eating-too-what-can-we-do-we/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/795/gerhard-richter-2249_believe_i-believe-in-painting-and-i-believe-in-e_1913142.jpg) > [With a brush you have control. The paint goes on the brush and you make the mark. From experience you know exactly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/with-a-brush-you-have-control-the-paint-goes-on-the-brush-and-you/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/gerhard-richter-2249_brushes_with-a-brush-you-have-control-the-paint_1490178.jpg) > [I go to the studio every day, but I don't paint every day. I love playing with my architectural models. I love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/i-go-to-the-studio-every-day-but-i-don-t-paint-every-day-i-love/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3c/gerhard-richter-2249_architectural_i-go-to-the-studio-every-day-but-i-don-t_609225.jpg) > [A work of art is itself an object, first of all, and so manipulation is unavoidable: it's a prerequisite. But I needed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/a-work-of-art-is-itself-an-object-first-of-all-and-so-manipulation-is/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0d/gerhard-richter-2249_art_a-work-of-art-is-itself-an-object-first_77845.jpg) > [Weeks go by, and I don't paint until finally I can't stand it any longer. I get fed up. I almost don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/weeks-go-by-and-i-don-t-paint-until-finally-i-can-t-stand-it-any/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87e/gerhard-richter-2249_about_weeks-go-by-and-i-don-t-paint-until-fina_2828897.jpg) > [But it is also untrue that I have nothing specific in mind. As with my landscapes: I see countless landscapes, photograph barely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/but-it-is-also-untrue-that-i-have-nothing-specific-in-mind-as-with-my/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed7/gerhard-richter-2249_art_but-it-is-also-untrue-that-i-have-nothin_226614.jpg) > [The paint for the grey paintings was mixed beforehand and then applied with different implements - sometimes a roller, sometimes a brush.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/the-paint-for-the-grey-paintings-was-mixed-beforehand-and-then/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e69/gerhard-richter-2249_art_the-paint-for-the-grey-paintings-was-mix_1075796.jpg) > [There was no special event that made me decide. I had collected some photos and the idea was in the back of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/there-was-no-special-event-that-made-me-decide-i-had-collected-some/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fb/gerhard-richter-2249_art_there-was-no-special-event-that-made-me_997739.jpg) > [Painting is traditional but for me that doesn't mean the academy. I felt a need to paint; I love painting. It was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/painting-is-traditional-but-for-me-that-doesn-t-mean-the-academy-i/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d79/gerhard-richter-2249_academy_painting-is-traditional-but-for-me-that_265183.jpg) > [When I first painted a number of canvases grey all over (about eight years ago), I did so because I did not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/when-i-first-painted-a-number-of-canvases-grey-all-over-about-eight/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/gerhard-richter-2249_art_when-i-first-painted-a-number-of-canvase_1330819.jpg) > [Only about one per cent of my paintings show family members. Do they help me deal with problems? It's likely that these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/only-about-one-per-cent-of-my-paintings-show-family-members-do-they/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ff/gerhard-richter-2249_appearing_only-about-one-per-cent-of-my-paintings_1767748.jpg) > [Photography has almost no reality; it is almost a hundred per cent picture. And painting always has reality: you can touch the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/photography-has-almost-no-reality-it-is-almost-a-hundred-per-cent/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dea/gerhard-richter-2249_cents_photography-has-almost-no-reality-it-is_3159533.jpg) > [... landscapes or still-lifes I paint in between the abstract works; they constitute about one-tenth of my production. On the one hand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/landscapes-or-still-lifes-i-paint-in-between-the-abstract-works-they/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/518/gerhard-richter-2249_abstract_landscapes-or-still-lifes-i-paint-in-bet_1848162.jpg) > [I started doing 'figures', then, one day, all of a sudden, I started doing abstraction. And then I started doing both. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/i-started-doing-figures-then-one-day-all-of-a-sudden-i-started-doing/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8f/gerhard-richter-2249_abstraction_i-started-doing-figures-then-one-day-all_3020562.jpg) > [Weeks go by, and I dont paint until finally I cant stand it any longer. I get fed up. I almost dont…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/weeks-go-by-and-i-dont-paint-until-finally-i-cant-stand-it-any-longer/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/961/gerhard-richter-2249_artist_weeks-go-by-and-i-dont-paint-until-final_385372.jpg) ## Other authors on Paint ## More by Gerhard Richter > [Art shows us how to see things that are constructive and good, and to be an active part of that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/art-shows-us-how-to-see-things-that-are-constructive-and-good-and-to/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [They are specific places I have discovered here and there when I am on the road to take photos. I go especially to take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/they-are-specific-places-i-have-discovered-here-and-there-when-i-am/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [To me, grey is the welcome and only possible equivalent for indifference, noncommitment, absence of opinion, absence of shape. But grey, like formlessness and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/to-me-grey-is-the-welcome-and-only-possible-equivalent-for/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [Now that we do not have priests and philosophers any more, artists are the most important people in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/now-that-we-do-not-have-priests-and-philosophers-any-more-artists-are/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [Yes, we were amazed when that happened. It was a real joke to us. Konrad Lueg and I did a Happening, and we used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/yes-we-were-amazed-when-that-happened-it-was-a-real-joke-to-us-konrad/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/a-work-of-art-is-itself-an-object-first-of-all-and-so-manipulation-is/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [The photograph is the only picture that can truly convey information, even if it is technically faulty and the object can barely be identified.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/the-photograph-is-the-only-picture-that-can-truly-convey-information/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [Perhaps the choice is a negative one, in that I was trying to avoid everything that touched on well-known issues - or any issues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/perhaps-the-choice-is-a-negative-one-in-that-i-was-trying-to-avoid/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [Gray is the color... the most important of all... absent of opinion, nothing, neither/nor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/gray-is-the-color-the-most-important-of-all-absent-of-opinion-nothing/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [All photographs are far more important than any painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/all-photographs-are-far-more-important-than-any-painting/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [You can compare it to dreams: you have a very specific and individual pictorial language that you either accept or that you can translate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/you-can-compare-it-to-dreams-you-have-a-very-specific-and-individual/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [What attracted me about my mirrors was the idea of having nothing manipulated in them. A piece of bought mirror. Just hung there, without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/what-attracted-me-about-my-mirrors-was-the-idea-of-having-nothing/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [But it is also untrue that I have nothing specific in mind. As with my landscapes: I see countless landscapes, photograph barely 1 in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/but-it-is-also-untrue-that-i-have-nothing-specific-in-mind-as-with-my/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [My landscapes are not only beautiful or nostalgic, with a Romantic or classical suggestion of lost Paradises, but above all 'untruthful'...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/my-landscapes-are-not-only-beautiful-or-nostalgic-with-a-romantic-or/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [I have always been structured. What has changed is the proportions. Now it is eight hours of paperwork and one of painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/i-have-always-been-structured-what-has-changed-is-the-proportions-now/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paint/gerhard-richter/#itemlist", "name": "22 Paint Quotes By Gerhard Richter", "numberOfItems": 22, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I can't paint as well as Vermeer.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gerhard Richter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/i-can-t-paint-as-well-as-vermeer/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b8/gerhard-richter-2249_paint_i-can-t-paint-as-well-as-vermeer-1710666_1710666.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b8/gerhard-richter-2249_paint_i-can-t-paint-as-well-as-vermeer-1710666_1710666.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b8/gerhard-richter-2249_paint_i-can-t-paint-as-well-as-vermeer-1710666_1710666.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I can't paint as well as Vermeer.” — Gerhard Richter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To believe, one must have lost God. 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That's all.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gerhard Richter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/i-m-trying-to-paint-a-picture-of-what-i-have-seen-and-what-moved-me/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d63/gerhard-richter-2249_art_i-m-trying-to-paint-a-picture-of-what-i_2001392.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d63/gerhard-richter-2249_art_i-m-trying-to-paint-a-picture-of-what-i_2001392.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d63/gerhard-richter-2249_art_i-m-trying-to-paint-a-picture-of-what-i_2001392.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I'm trying to paint a picture of what I have seen and what moved me, as well as I can. 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I don't know what I am doing. My work is far closer to the Informel than to any kind of 'realism'. The photograph has an abstraction of its own, which is not easy to see through.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gerhard Richter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/when-i-paint-from-a-photograph-conscious-thinking-is-eliminated-i-don/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f11/gerhard-richter-2249_abstraction_when-i-paint-from-a-photograph-conscious_612663.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f11/gerhard-richter-2249_abstraction_when-i-paint-from-a-photograph-conscious_612663.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f11/gerhard-richter-2249_abstraction_when-i-paint-from-a-photograph-conscious_612663.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When I paint from a photograph, conscious thinking is eliminated. I don't know what I am doing. My work is…” — Gerhard Richter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I go to the studio every day, but I dont paint every day. I love playing with my architectural models. I love making plans. I could spend my life arranging things.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gerhard Richter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/i-go-to-the-studio-every-day-but-i-dont-paint-every-day-i-love/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4da/gerhard-richter-2249_arranging_i-go-to-the-studio-every-day-but-i-dont_885941.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4da/gerhard-richter-2249_arranging_i-go-to-the-studio-every-day-but-i-dont_885941.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4da/gerhard-richter-2249_arranging_i-go-to-the-studio-every-day-but-i-dont_885941.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I go to the studio every day, but I dont paint every day. I love playing with my architectural models. I…” — Gerhard Richter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "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.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gerhard Richter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/i-believe-in-painting-and-i-believe-in-eating-too-what-can-we-do-we/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/795/gerhard-richter-2249_believe_i-believe-in-painting-and-i-believe-in-e_1913142.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/795/gerhard-richter-2249_believe_i-believe-in-painting-and-i-believe-in-e_1913142.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/795/gerhard-richter-2249_believe_i-believe-in-painting-and-i-believe-in-e_1913142.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I believe in painting and I believe in eating too. What can we do? 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With the squeegee you lose control.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gerhard Richter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/with-a-brush-you-have-control-the-paint-goes-on-the-brush-and-you/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/gerhard-richter-2249_brushes_with-a-brush-you-have-control-the-paint_1490178.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/gerhard-richter-2249_brushes_with-a-brush-you-have-control-the-paint_1490178.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/gerhard-richter-2249_brushes_with-a-brush-you-have-control-the-paint_1490178.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“With a brush you have control. The paint goes on the brush and you make the mark. From experience you know…” — Gerhard Richter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I go to the studio every day, but I don't paint every day. I love playing with my architectural models. I love making plans. I could spend my life arranging things.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gerhard Richter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/i-go-to-the-studio-every-day-but-i-don-t-paint-every-day-i-love/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3c/gerhard-richter-2249_architectural_i-go-to-the-studio-every-day-but-i-don-t_609225.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3c/gerhard-richter-2249_architectural_i-go-to-the-studio-every-day-but-i-don-t_609225.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3c/gerhard-richter-2249_architectural_i-go-to-the-studio-every-day-but-i-don-t_609225.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I go to the studio every day, but I don't paint every day. I love playing with my architectural models. I…” — Gerhard Richter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 11, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "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. 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I get fed up. I almost don't want to talk about it, because I don't want to become self-conscious about it, but perhaps I create these little crises as a kind of a secret strategy to push myself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gerhard Richter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/weeks-go-by-and-i-don-t-paint-until-finally-i-can-t-stand-it-any/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87e/gerhard-richter-2249_about_weeks-go-by-and-i-don-t-paint-until-fina_2828897.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87e/gerhard-richter-2249_about_weeks-go-by-and-i-don-t-paint-until-fina_2828897.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87e/gerhard-richter-2249_about_weeks-go-by-and-i-don-t-paint-until-fina_2828897.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Weeks go by, and I don't paint until finally I can't stand it any longer. I get fed up. I almost don't want…” — Gerhard Richter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 13, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But it is also untrue that I have nothing specific in mind. As with my landscapes: I see countless landscapes, photograph barely 1 in 100,000, and paint barely 1 in 100 of those that I photograph. I am therefore seeking something quite specific; from this I conclude that I know what I want.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gerhard Richter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/but-it-is-also-untrue-that-i-have-nothing-specific-in-mind-as-with-my/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed7/gerhard-richter-2249_art_but-it-is-also-untrue-that-i-have-nothin_226614.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed7/gerhard-richter-2249_art_but-it-is-also-untrue-that-i-have-nothin_226614.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed7/gerhard-richter-2249_art_but-it-is-also-untrue-that-i-have-nothin_226614.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But it is also untrue that I have nothing specific in mind. As with my landscapes: I see countless…” — Gerhard Richter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 14, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The paint for the grey paintings was mixed beforehand and then applied with different implements - sometimes a roller, sometimes a brush. It was only after painting them that I sometimes felt that the grey was not yet satisfactory and that another layer of paint was needed.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gerhard Richter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/the-paint-for-the-grey-paintings-was-mixed-beforehand-and-then/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e69/gerhard-richter-2249_art_the-paint-for-the-grey-paintings-was-mix_1075796.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e69/gerhard-richter-2249_art_the-paint-for-the-grey-paintings-was-mix_1075796.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e69/gerhard-richter-2249_art_the-paint-for-the-grey-paintings-was-mix_1075796.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The paint for the grey paintings was mixed beforehand and then applied with different implements - sometimes…” — Gerhard Richter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 15, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There was no special event that made me decide. I had collected some photos and the idea was in the back of my mind for a long time. It was growing and growing, so finally I said, 'I must paint this.' I come from East Germany and am not a Marxist, so of course at the time I had no sympathy for the ideas, or for the ideology that these people represented. I couldn't understand, but I was still impressed. Like everyone, I was touched. 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I had collected some photos and the idea was in the back of…” — Gerhard Richter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 16, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "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.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gerhard Richter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/painting-is-traditional-but-for-me-that-doesn-t-mean-the-academy-i/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d79/gerhard-richter-2249_academy_painting-is-traditional-but-for-me-that_265183.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d79/gerhard-richter-2249_academy_painting-is-traditional-but-for-me-that_265183.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d79/gerhard-richter-2249_academy_painting-is-traditional-but-for-me-that_265183.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Painting is traditional but for me that doesn't mean the academy. I felt a need to paint; I love painting…” — Gerhard Richter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 17, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I first painted a number of canvases grey all over (about eight years ago), I did so because I did not know what to paint, or what there might be to paint: so wretched a start could lead to nothing meaningful. As time went on, however, I observed differences of quality among the grey surfaces - and also that these betrayed nothing of the destructive motivation that lay behind them. The pictures began to teach me. By generalizing a personal dilemma, they resolved it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gerhard Richter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/when-i-first-painted-a-number-of-canvases-grey-all-over-about-eight/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/gerhard-richter-2249_art_when-i-first-painted-a-number-of-canvase_1330819.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/gerhard-richter-2249_art_when-i-first-painted-a-number-of-canvase_1330819.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/gerhard-richter-2249_art_when-i-first-painted-a-number-of-canvase_1330819.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When I first painted a number of canvases grey all over (about eight years ago), I did so because I did not…” — Gerhard Richter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 18, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Only about one per cent of my paintings show family members. Do they help me deal with problems? It's likely that these problems can only be depicted. But photographs, private ones and others, keep appearing that fascinate me so much that I want to paint them. And sometimes the real meaning these images have for me only becomes apparent later.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gerhard Richter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/only-about-one-per-cent-of-my-paintings-show-family-members-do-they/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ff/gerhard-richter-2249_appearing_only-about-one-per-cent-of-my-paintings_1767748.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ff/gerhard-richter-2249_appearing_only-about-one-per-cent-of-my-paintings_1767748.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ff/gerhard-richter-2249_appearing_only-about-one-per-cent-of-my-paintings_1767748.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Only about one per cent of my paintings show family members. Do they help me deal with problems? It's likely…” — Gerhard Richter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 19, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Photography has almost no reality; it is almost a hundred per cent picture. And painting always has reality: you can touch the paint; it has presence; but it always yields a picture - no matter whether good or bad. That's all the theory. It's no good. I once took some small photographs and then smeared them with paint. That partly resolved the problem, and it's really good - better than anything I could ever say on the subject.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gerhard Richter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/photography-has-almost-no-reality-it-is-almost-a-hundred-per-cent/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dea/gerhard-richter-2249_cents_photography-has-almost-no-reality-it-is_3159533.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dea/gerhard-richter-2249_cents_photography-has-almost-no-reality-it-is_3159533.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dea/gerhard-richter-2249_cents_photography-has-almost-no-reality-it-is_3159533.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Photography has almost no reality; it is almost a hundred per cent picture. And painting always has reality…” — Gerhard Richter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 20, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "... landscapes or still-lifes I paint in between the abstract works; they constitute about one-tenth of my production. On the one hand they are useful, because I like to work from nature - although I do use a photograph - because I think that any detail from nature has a logic I would like to see in abstraction as well.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gerhard Richter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/landscapes-or-still-lifes-i-paint-in-between-the-abstract-works-they/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/518/gerhard-richter-2249_abstract_landscapes-or-still-lifes-i-paint-in-bet_1848162.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/518/gerhard-richter-2249_abstract_landscapes-or-still-lifes-i-paint-in-bet_1848162.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/518/gerhard-richter-2249_abstract_landscapes-or-still-lifes-i-paint-in-bet_1848162.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“... landscapes or still-lifes I paint in between the abstract works; they constitute about one-tenth of my…” — Gerhard Richter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 21, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I started doing 'figures', then, one day, all of a sudden, I started doing abstraction. And then I started doing both. But it was never really a conscious decision. It was simply a question of desire. In fact, I really prefer making figurative work, but the figure is difficult. So to work around the difficulty I take a break and paint abstractly. 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I almost dont want to talk about it, because I dont want to become self-conscious about it, but perhaps I create these little crises as a kind of a secret strategy to push myself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gerhard Richter" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/weeks-go-by-and-i-dont-paint-until-finally-i-cant-stand-it-any-longer/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/961/gerhard-richter-2249_artist_weeks-go-by-and-i-dont-paint-until-final_385372.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/961/gerhard-richter-2249_artist_weeks-go-by-and-i-dont-paint-until-final_385372.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/961/gerhard-richter-2249_artist_weeks-go-by-and-i-dont-paint-until-final_385372.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Weeks go by, and I dont paint until finally I cant stand it any longer. I get fed up. 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