--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Art is not a substitute religion: it is a…" description: "\"Art is not a substitute religion: it is a religion (in the true sense of the word: 'binding back', 'binding' to the unknowable, transcending reason, tr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac3/gerhard-richter-2249_adequate_art-is-not-a-substitute-religion-it-is-a_624487.jpg" --- # Art is not a substitute religion: it is a religion (in the… ![“Art is not a substitute religion: it is a religion (in the true sense of the word: 'binding back', 'binding' to the unknowable, transcending reason, transcendent being). But the church is no longer adequate as a means of affording experience of the transcendental, and of making religion real - and…” quote by Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac3/gerhard-richter-2249_adequate_art-is-not-a-substitute-religion-it-is-a_624487.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac3/gerhard-richter-2249_adequate_art-is-not-a-substitute-religion-it-is-a_624487.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac3/gerhard-richter-2249_adequate_art-is-not-a-substitute-religion-it-is-a_624487.jpg) > “Art is not a substitute religion: it is a religion (in the true sense of the word: 'binding back', 'binding' to the unknowable, transcending reason, transcendent being). But the church is no longer adequate as a means of affording experience of the transcendental, and of making religion real - and so art has been transformed from a means into the sole provider of religion: which means religion itself.” [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art functions as a modern religion, offering transcendent experiences beyond traditional religious structures. **In simple terms:** Art replaces religion for some. Key Takeaway Explore art’s deeper meaning. Themes spirituality creativity transcendence Mood reflective inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - gallery visits - personal meditation - creative practice Key Concepts aesthetic experience philosophy existentialism Questions to Reflect On - How does art inspire you spiritually? - Can art replace community rituals? A Different Perspective Art may not fulfill all spiritual needs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adequate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adequate/) [Affording](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affording/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-is/) [Art Substitute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-substitute-3744288/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Binding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/binding/) [Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Means Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/means-religion-1492768/) [Providers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/providers/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Religion Means](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion-means-311072/) [Religion Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion-real-1199528/) [Sole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sole/) [Substitute Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/substitute-religion-1069713/) [Substitutes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/substitutes/) [Transcendent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transcendent/) [Transcendental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transcendental/) [Transcending](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transcending/) [Transformed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transformed/) ## Related quotes > [“This realization is the first of many awakenings that have shaped my understanding of what religion means: Religion is our human response to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-buehrens/this-realization-is-the-first-of-many-awakenings-that-have-shaped-my/) [John Buehrens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-buehrens/) > [“Doggedness in art is no substitute for inspiration.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-wood/doggedness-in-art-is-no-substitute-for-inspiration/) [Benjamin Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-wood/) > [Just as there is no substitute for original works of art, there is no substitute for the world of direct sensual experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-mellon/just-as-there-is-no-substitute-for-original-works-of-art-there-is-no/) [Paul Mellon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-mellon/) > [Spiritual means religion without any rules. It's all the comfort of fictitious friends with none of their demands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/spiritual-means-religion-without-any-rules-it-s-all-the-comfort-of/) [Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) > [“Everyone wishes to be saved, but few will use those means which religion prescribes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-ab-lard/everyone-wishes-to-be-saved-but-few-will-use-those-means-which/) [Pierre Abélard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-ab-lard/) > [“Religionists want religion's placement on the pedestal of respect preserved by any means. But religion deserves no respect. Rather, it has earned scorn, ridicule,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-silverman/religionists-want-religion-s-placement-on-the-pedestal-of-respect/) [David Silverman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-silverman/) > [Sex is the ersatz or substitute religion of the 20th Century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/sex-is-the-ersatz-or-substitute-religion-of-the-20th-century/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [The secularization of Western culture was accompanied by the elevation of art to the position of a substitute religion to replace Christianity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leland-ryken/the-secularization-of-western-culture-was-accompanied-by-the/) [Leland Ryken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leland-ryken/) > [Solaristics, wrote Muntius, is a substitute for religion in the space age. It is faith wrapped in the cloak of science; contact, the goal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/solaristics-wrote-muntius-is-a-substitute-for-religion-in-the-space/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We know too much, and are convinced of too little. Our literature is a substitute for religion, and so is our religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/we-know-too-much-and-are-convinced-of-too-little-our-literature-is-a/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [For a while in the twenties and thirties, art was talked about as a substitute for religion; now B movies are a substitute for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauline-kael/for-a-while-in-the-twenties-and-thirties-art-was-talked-about-as-a/) [Pauline Kael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pauline-kael/) > [The pioneers and missionaries of religion have been the real cause of more trouble and war than all other classes of mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/the-pioneers-and-missionaries-of-religion-have-been-the-real-cause-of/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“Whether Jewish or Christian, our religions have stressed too strongly the strictly historical aspect, so that we are, so to say, in worship of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/whether-jewish-or-christian-our-religions-have-stressed-too-strongly/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [Atheism, not religion, is the real force behind the mass murders of history](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinesh-d-souza/atheism-not-religion-is-the-real-force-behind-the-mass-murders-of/) [Dinesh D'Souza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinesh-d-souza/) > [Even though I have never had an abrupt conversion experience, religion has been real to me and closely knitted to life. In fact the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/even-though-i-have-never-had-an-abrupt-conversion-experience-religion/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) ## 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/) [Explore all 176 Gerhard Richter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) ## More Adequate quotes > [What I search for continuously in my art is adequate language, language I hope can stand beyond any particular occasion. What I'm finding is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/what-i-search-for-continuously-in-my-art-is-adequate-language/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [The action carries a sense of incompleteness and frustration, but not of guilt. Victorious living does not mean perfect living in the sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-stanley-jones/the-action-carries-a-sense-of-incompleteness-and-frustration-but-not/) [E. Stanley Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-stanley-jones/) > [Seen from the point of view of the composer, the most nonsensical practice is that of casting people in musicals who are unable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-gold/seen-from-the-point-of-view-of-the-composer-the-most-nonsensical/) [Ernest Gold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-gold/) > [And I am quite serious when I say that I do not believe there are, on the whole earth besides, so many intensified bores…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/and-i-am-quite-serious-when-i-say-that-i-do-not-believe-there-are-on/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Art can only be truly art by presenting an adequate outward symbol of some fact in the interior life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-fuller/art-can-only-be-truly-art-by-presenting-an-adequate-outward-symbol-of/) [Margaret Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-fuller/) > [The President has once again failed us. Millions of Americans are at risk of going without the flu vaccine this year because the administration…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-corzine/the-president-has-once-again-failed-us-millions-of-americans-are-at/) [Jon Corzine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-corzine/) > [All the world’s major religions, with their emphasis on love, compassion, patience, tolerance and forgiveness, can and do promote inner values. But the reality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/all-the-world-s-major-religions-with-their-emphasis-on-love/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [Conversation in its happiest development is a link, equally exquisite and adequate, between mind and mind, a system by which men approach one another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/conversation-in-its-happiest-development-is-a-link-equally-exquisite/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [A strong accountability system needs to broaden, not narrow, the curriculum. That cannot happen if you only have accountability without adequate school funding. Until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-gelber/a-strong-accountability-system-needs-to-broaden-not-narrow-the/) [Dan Gelber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-gelber/) > [All propaganda or popularization involves a putting of the complex into the simple, but such a move is instantly not constructive. For if the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/all-propaganda-or-popularization-involves-a-putting-of-the-complex/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [You have no right to go before a public without an adequate technique, just because you feel. Anything feels - a leaf feels, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-graham/you-have-no-right-to-go-before-a-public-without-an-adequate-technique/) [Martha Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-graham/) > [In sum, the Court's conclusion that a constitutionally adequate recount is impractical is a prophecy the Court's own judgment will not allow to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-bader-ginsburg/in-sum-the-court-s-conclusion-that-a-constitutionally-adequate/) [Ruth Bader Ginsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-bader-ginsburg/) > [Travelling doesn't stress me, since adequate 10-hour sleep post-travel is sufficient for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anushka-shetty/travelling-doesn-t-stress-me-since-adequate-10-hour-sleep-post-travel/) [Anushka Shetty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anushka-shetty/) > [Remorse is cureless--the Disease Not even God--can heal-- For 'tis His institution--and The Adequate of Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/remorse-is-cureless-the-disease-not-even-god-can-heal-for-tis-his/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [Too often, attention is diverted from the needs of populations, insufficient emphasis is placed on work in the fields, and the goods of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-benedict-xvi/too-often-attention-is-diverted-from-the-needs-of-populations/) [Pope Benedict XVI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-benedict-xvi/) [Browse all 522 Adequate quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adequate/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Art is not a substitute religion: it is a religion (in the true sense of the word: 'binding back', 'binding' to the unknowable, transcending reason, transcendent being). But the church is no longer adequate as a means of affording experience of the transcendental, and of making religion real - and so art has been transformed from a means into the sole provider of religion: which means religion itself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gerhard Richter" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/art-is-not-a-substitute-religion-it-is-a-religion-in-the-true-sense/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Adequate" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/art-is-not-a-substitute-religion-it-is-a-religion-in-the-true-sense/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac3/gerhard-richter-2249_adequate_art-is-not-a-substitute-religion-it-is-a_624487.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac3/gerhard-richter-2249_adequate_art-is-not-a-substitute-religion-it-is-a_624487.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac3/gerhard-richter-2249_adequate_art-is-not-a-substitute-religion-it-is-a_624487.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Art is not a substitute religion: it is a religion (in the true sense of the word: 'binding back', 'binding'…” — Gerhard Richter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gerhard Richter", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Art is not a substitute religion:...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/art-is-not-a-substitute-religion-it-is-a-religion-in-the-true-sense/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/art-is-not-a-substitute-religion-it-is-a-religion-in-the-true-sense/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```