--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ... landscapes or still-lifes I paint in…" description: "\"... 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,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/518/gerhard-richter-2249_abstract_landscapes-or-still-lifes-i-paint-in-bet_1848162.jpg" --- # ... landscapes or still-lifes I paint in between the… ![“... 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…” quote by Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/518/gerhard-richter-2249_abstract_landscapes-or-still-lifes-i-paint-in-bet_1848162.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/518/gerhard-richter-2249_abstract_landscapes-or-still-lifes-i-paint-in-bet_1848162.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/518/gerhard-richter-2249_abstract_landscapes-or-still-lifes-i-paint-in-bet_1848162.jpg) > “... 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.” [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 explains that his still-life paintings serve as a bridge, using natural detail to inform his abstract work. **In simple terms:** He paints nature to inspire abstraction. Key Takeaway Use observation to guide creative abstraction. Themes art observation abstraction process inspiration Mood reflective analytical Type artistic process When to use this quote - studio practice - art education - creative brainstorming - design development Key Concepts visual logic translation detail nature photography Questions to Reflect On - How can you integrate real observation into abstract projects? - What details from nature could enrich your work? A Different Perspective Relying on photographs may limit direct sensory experience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) [Abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Landscape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/landscape/) [Landscapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/landscapes/) [Logic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/logic/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [I paint abstract expressions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-zane/i-paint-abstract-expressions/) [Billy Zane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-zane/) > [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'm not a person who writes really abstract things with oblique references. I look at abstraction like I look at condiments. Give me some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wynton-marsalis/i-m-not-a-person-who-writes-really-abstract-things-with-oblique/) [Wynton Marsalis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wynton-marsalis/) > [All representations of a thing are inherently abstract.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/all-representations-of-a-thing-are-inherently-abstract/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Nobody really thinks who does not abstract from that which is given, who does not relate the facts to the factors which have made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/nobody-really-thinks-who-does-not-abstract-from-that-which-is-given/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [I guess I have no motivation to make an abstract painting, even if they sometimes read as abstract. I think, with abstraction, it's easy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-bradley/i-guess-i-have-no-motivation-to-make-an-abstract-painting-even-if/) [Joe Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-bradley/) > [Far be it for me to have worked it out in any abstract way. I don't know why the bull and Mrs. May have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/far-be-it-for-me-to-have-worked-it-out-in-any-abstract-way-i-don-t/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [Abstract art is a fundamental distrust of the theory of reality concocted by the eyes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/abstract-art-is-a-fundamental-distrust-of-the-theory-of-reality/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [The abstraction, ostensibly, is simply for me the penetration of something that is more profound in many ways than rigidity of a form. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beauford-delaney/the-abstraction-ostensibly-is-simply-for-me-the-penetration-of/) Beauford Delaney > [I'm an abstract painter not just for myself, but because I really believe in abstraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brice-marden/i-m-an-abstract-painter-not-just-for-myself-but-because-i-really/) [Brice Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brice-marden/) > [“The most abstract truth is the most practical.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-most-abstract-truth-is-the-most-practical/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Abstraction allows man to see with his mind what he cannot physically see with his eyes... Abstract art enables the artist to perceive beyond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arshile-gorky/abstraction-allows-man-to-see-with-his-mind-what-he-cannot-physically/) [Arshile Gorky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arshile-gorky/) > [In abstract mathematics or abstract art, the purpose is to describe inner states of our mind, and to explore the limits of our own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anjan-sundaram/in-abstract-mathematics-or-abstract-art-the-purpose-is-to-describe/) [Anjan Sundaram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anjan-sundaram/) > [Music, first of all, is completely about abstraction, which is exactly what architecture is not. In a way, it has been incredibly constructive to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rafael-vinoly/music-first-of-all-is-completely-about-abstraction-which-is-exactly/) [Rafael Vinoly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rafael-vinoly/) > [America is a simplified ideological abstraction, an emotive symbol represented by other abstract symbols like the flag. It is the object of a faithlike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-parenti/america-is-a-simplified-ideological-abstraction-an-emotive-symbol/) [Michael Parenti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-parenti/) ## 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 Abstract quotes > [Love is like that, fragile and light. 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It's sort of an abstract silliness, that sometimes the joke isn't the star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-carvey/describing-comic-sensibility-is-near-impossible-it-s-sort-of-an/) [Dana Carvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-carvey/) > [For people of color - especially African Americans - the idea that racist cops might frame members of their community is no abstract notion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/for-people-of-color-especially-african-americans-the-idea-that-racist/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [The word of the Lord never comes to us as an opinion, no attempt is made to support it by argument, it comes as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-w-ivins/the-word-of-the-lord-never-comes-to-us-as-an-opinion-no-attempt-is/) Anthony W. Ivins > [A mobile is an abstract sculpture made chiefly out of sheet metal, steel rods, wire and wood. Some or all of these elements move,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-calder/a-mobile-is-an-abstract-sculpture-made-chiefly-out-of-sheet-metal/) [Alexander Calder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-calder/) > [I'm this superphilosophical kind of person. Stuck in a prison of abstract ideas and overpowering emotions, I have this personality that makes it really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natsuo-kirino/i-m-this-superphilosophical-kind-of-person-stuck-in-a-prison-of/) [Natsuo Kirino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natsuo-kirino/) > [Future lawyers should be more aware that law is not a system of abstract logic, but the web of arrangements, rooted in history but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/future-lawyers-should-be-more-aware-that-law-is-not-a-system-of/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [The trouble is that when you read criticisms about the other films that I've made you get the impression that they're all about themes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-haneke/the-trouble-is-that-when-you-read-criticisms-about-the-other-films/) [Michael Haneke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-haneke/) > [Painting is... a richer language than words... Painting operates through signs which are not abstract and incorporeal like words. The signs of painting are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-dubuffet/painting-is-a-richer-language-than-words-painting-operates-through/) [Jean Dubuffet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-dubuffet/) [Browse all 1,403 Abstract quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "... landscapes or still-lifes I paint in between the abstract works; they constitute about one-tenth of my production. 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