Gerhard Richter Quotes

I think, as an artist, it's very important to continue to be challenged and feel challenged all the time.

I think about that 'empty' space a lot. That emptiness is what allows for something to actually evolve in a natural way. I've had to learn that over the years - because one of the traps of being an artist is to always want to be creating, always wanting to produce.

One thing that feels very important to me as an artist is to continually challenge myself and push myself to do all kinds of different things.

I think if you're a creative person, then you're always kinda looking to move things along - 'Where else can I go? Where can I take this?' From painters to photographers - anything creative in the arts - if you're a true artist, I think you'll always look to do something else. 'Where else can I go with it?' Do you know what I mean?

Perhaps I might be satisfied, momentarily, with a work finished at one sitting, but I would soon get bored looking at it; therefore, I prefer to continue working on it so that later I may recognize it as a work of my mind.

I painted with acrylic paint, and the reason why I went to oil was mainly because I didn't control it. I was looking for the insecurity of it. I mean, I might have found another reason later, but at that moment, the reason was I was looking for the insecurity.

In reality, however, an artist is a product of art

I think that my responsibility to my art is to try to get it right or to push the boundaries of what I'm able to do in any way.

Juilliard's mission statement is learn about the classics so you can use that as a springboard to anything that comes your way.

That's what's great about the arts. Everything inspires you, and you get a chance to grow from watching other people and how they do their work.

Artwork is not like a commercial business; there is no such thing as a schedule for art. You can't hurry art.

Part of your job as an artist is to push yourself and make sure your creative juices are flowing.

In fact, most artists want to make things a bit more difficult for themselves as they go along, to challenge themselves.

The ultimate point of a piece for me is that it drives the next one. Does it open new doors? That's the success of a piece.

I take this art very seriously and passionately. I love what I do. You can't help but grow. That's not to say you don't make mistakes or make bad choices, but that's part of the art. Painters paint bad paintings.

Every artist was first an amateur.

Any art worth its name requires you to be fundamentally lost for a very long time.

Nothing prepares you for making art except making art. You have to do it to get better.

The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.

You hope to be a part of something that makes you a better artist when you leave.

Inviting artists to do something, you want it to be a place where they're going to feel challenged and excited and that will maybe open up some new doorway in their own lives or their own creative practice.

No artist is one-dimensional. I get the sense that if I push myself now and if I create a million different-sounding songs - I just feel that's going to be such a set-up for my ability in the future.

Any artist should stay challenged as long as possible.

If I had to pick an artist that I look up to and am inspired by, it's Matisse because of how many times he would paint the same idea until he felt like he maybe got it right, and I try to do the same thing with my writing.

I think the best artists find ways to reinvent themselves. They find new ways to tell their stories, or they find new stories to tell.