--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I first came up with the idea for the…" description: "\"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 c..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9a/gerhard-richter-2249_art_i-first-came-up-with-the-idea-for-the-co_2502274.jpg" --- # I first came up with the idea for the colour-chart… ![“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…” quote by Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9a/gerhard-richter-2249_art_i-first-came-up-with-the-idea-for-the-co_2502274.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9a/gerhard-richter-2249_art_i-first-came-up-with-the-idea-for-the-co_2502274.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9a/gerhard-richter-2249_art_i-first-came-up-with-the-idea-for-the-co_2502274.jpg) > “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](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. Richter explored systematic color organization, moving from Pop Art influences to a disciplined, secular visual language of thousands of color fields. **In simple terms:** He created a large painting of 4,096 color squares, focusing on pure color rather than artistic gestures. Key Takeaway Embrace structure and color as a form of visual research. Themes color theory modernism visual discipline Mood analytical contemplative Type artistic educational When to use this quote - gallery exhibition - educational lecture - studio practice Key Concepts systematic composition color field painting artistic process Questions to Reflect On - How does reducing artistic gesture affect viewer perception? - Can systematic color arrangements convey meaning? A Different Perspective May limit emotional expression by focusing on formalism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Colour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/colour/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Pop art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pop-art/) [Secular](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secular/) [Tone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tone/) ## Related quotes > [Based on mixtures of the three primary colours, along with black and white, I come up with a certain number of possible colours and,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/based-on-mixtures-of-the-three-primary-colours-along-with-black-and/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [The first colour charts were unsystematic. They were based directly on commercial colour samples. They were still related to Pop Art. In the canvases…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/the-first-colour-charts-were-unsystematic-they-were-based-directly-on/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/maybe-we-didn-t-even-have-a-chance-the-message-of-american-pop-art/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [What interests me is to paint the kind of antisensitivity that impregnates modern civilization. I think art since Cezanne has become extremely romantic and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-lichtenstein/what-interests-me-is-to-paint-the-kind-of-antisensitivity-that/) [Roy Lichtenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-lichtenstein/) > [When I hear the same formula being used over and over, I get bored. Just as huge pop artists have taken inspiration from things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katy-b/when-i-hear-the-same-formula-being-used-over-and-over-i-get-bored/) [Katy B](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katy-b/) > [The pop artists did images that anybody walking down Broadway could recognize in a split second — comics, picnic tables, men’s trousers, celebrities, shower…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/the-pop-artists-did-images-that-anybody-walking-down-broadway-could/) [Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/) > [“Pop art: only possible in an affluent society, where one can be free to enjoy ironic consumption.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/pop-art-only-possible-in-an-affluent-society-where-one-can-be-free-to/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [I think in daily newspapers, the way comic strips are treated, it's as if newspaper publishers are going out of their way to kill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-groening/i-think-in-daily-newspapers-the-way-comic-strips-are-treated-it-s-as/) [Matt Groening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-groening/) > [I like adding little elements into the final mix. I'm more fond of the '70s glam than '80s. I have that style of vocals...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-lambert/i-like-adding-little-elements-into-the-final-mix-i-m-more-fond-of-the/) [Adam Lambert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-lambert/) > [Pop Art looks out into the world. It doesn't look like a painting of something, it looks like the thing itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-lichtenstein/pop-art-looks-out-into-the-world-it-doesn-t-look-like-a-painting-of/) [Roy Lichtenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-lichtenstein/) > [It is the transcendent (or 'abstract' or 'self-contained') nature of music that the new so called concretism--Pop Art, eighteen-hour slices-of-reality films, musique concrete--opposes. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/igor-stravinsky/it-is-the-transcendent-or-abstract-or-self-contained-nature-of-music/) [Igor Stravinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/igor-stravinsky/) > [I don't mean this, but I'm going to say it anyway. I don't really think of pop art and serious art as being that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-don-t-mean-this-but-i-m-going-to-say-it-anyway-i-don-t-really-think/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [I never set out to be a groundbreaking artist in the sense of doing something that's never been done before. I set out to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shepard-fairey/i-never-set-out-to-be-a-groundbreaking-artist-in-the-sense-of-doing/) [Shepard Fairey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shepard-fairey/) > [Only thanks to Pop Art, my painting has become understandable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/domenico-gnoli/only-thanks-to-pop-art-my-painting-has-become-understandable/) [Domenico Gnoli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/domenico-gnoli/) > [I've worked with jazz artists, country artists, classical artists, pop artists. I never wanted there to be categories, because when I was a kid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-mcknight/i-ve-worked-with-jazz-artists-country-artists-classical-artists-pop/) [Brian McKnight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-mcknight/) ## 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 Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "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.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gerhard Richter" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/i-first-came-up-with-the-idea-for-the-colour-chart-pictures-back-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/i-first-came-up-with-the-idea-for-the-colour-chart-pictures-back-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9a/gerhard-richter-2249_art_i-first-came-up-with-the-idea-for-the-co_2502274.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9a/gerhard-richter-2249_art_i-first-came-up-with-the-idea-for-the-co_2502274.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9a/gerhard-richter-2249_art_i-first-came-up-with-the-idea-for-the-co_2502274.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I first came up with the idea for the colour-chart pictures back in 1966, and my preoccupation with the…” — 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": "I first came up with the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/i-first-came-up-with-the-idea-for-the-colour-chart-pictures-back-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/i-first-came-up-with-the-idea-for-the-colour-chart-pictures-back-in/#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 } } ] } ```