The Daily Practice of Painting: Writings 1962-1993 (Paperback)

by Gerhard Richter (Author), Hans-Ulrich Obrist (Editor), David Britt (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Now that we do not have priests and philosophers anymore, artists are the most important people in the world. . . . Art is wretched, cynical, stupid, helpless, confusing."
—Gerhard Richter

Product Description
"Now that we do not have priests and philosophers anymore, artists are the most important people in the world. . . . Art is wretched, cynical, stupid, helpless, confusing." -- Gerhard Richter

Gerhard Richter, born in Dresden in 1932, is one of the foremost painters of his generation. A great deal has been written about the bewildering heterogeneity of his work over the past 30 years. His seemingly willful and defiant movement between abstract and figurative modes of representation and his seemingly inconsistent methods of applying paint to canvas are consistent, if nothing else, with Richter himself -- the master of the paradoxical statement. Although he has emphasized that he is first a painter and has never been a theorist, he has, throughout his career issued provocative, contentious, and memorable statements. Over seven years in preparation, this book makes available a selection of Richter's texts from all periods of his career, many translated for the first time. There are public statements about specific exhibitions, private reflections drawn from personal correspondence, answers to questions posed by critics, and excerpts from journals discussing the intentions, subjects, methods, and sources of his works from various periods. The writings are accompanied by 87 biographical illustrations of paintings from the artist's personal collection. Published in association with the Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (December 5, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 026268084X
• ISBN-13: 978-0262680844
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #558,770 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This item is part of The Writing Art Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling, March 30, 2000

By	A. Jones "walkup6" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

A wildly compelling book that should appeal to artists, philosophers and other thoughtful people. It contains journal entries, interviews, and musings of Richer's everyday struggles to discover what it means to be an artist. I tried to start at the beginning, but found it much more interesting to open the book to a random passage and each time discovered thought-provoking ideas. At first glance, his ideas and declarations often seem quite ludicrous, but if you take one moment to consider his thoughts, his genius is revealed. His prose (sometimes scathing) is extremeley amusing when read aloud as it was by a group of artists working on a large project. We took turns reading a passage and then found ourselves discussing (and quoting) it for days. His writings include the impact of his early life on his artwork, critiques of other artist's work (Anslem Keiffer does not fare well here!), keen observations and interpretations from studying art and the human condition in modern society as well as ideas, form, materials, and content in art. I found that it opened up a new way of thinking about my own work and why I am driven to create. I highly recommend it.

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Class Act, March 2, 2002

By	VPerry_co_dutchess - See all my reviews

Ironically, this book - that decries idealogies - could be a Bible, speaking almost always on deeply conceptual issues not only of artmaking but of living. Fortunately, for those with a pulse, there is sufficient comic relief in the form of absurdities, parodies and self-aggrandizement.

It is tempting to skip the early writing and go straight to the wisdom through maturity (the notes are chronologically arranged.) That would be unfortunate for there are tremendous nuggets scattered among the contradictions in the earlier pages.

If you're familiar with his work, much will be self-evident; but I found surprisingly astute reflections from the "young" Richter (ie:'66): "I like continual uncertainty". On the issue of changing style/form every 3-4 years, Richter claims that "historically speaking, changeable artists are a growing phenomenon". Even back in '77, he says "Painting has a brilliant future. Hasn't it?" Strong words, and brave for the time. If only the irascible Kuspit had read this before he slammed Richter (as "profoundly nihilistic") and believed such statements as "I want pictorial content without sentiment, but I want it as human as possible" or "the pleasure of painting proves the necessity of it".

I hope future editions of this include the charming interview with Robert Storr in Art In America Jan. 2002 - which clued me into the fact that Richter had a set of writings out. There are a few photos that show the various painting forms he's explored so if you don't know his work, you can get some idea what all the discussion's about.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A genius., November 13, 2002

By	D. Pfeiffer "jf_sebastian" (Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I really enjoyed this book. I bought it at the Ricther exhibit I just saw at the SFMOMA a few weeks ago. I wasn't familiar with his work until then. I was awed at the different themes and usage of what would seem to be everyday normal moments caught with an unearthly feel. He's even using music and video installations now. This book does uses his collected notes, interviews and letters as an insight into the thinking behind the artist. Richter's philosophy of not subscribing to any ideaology is very evident here. He seems especially disdainfull of Communism as it does not afford the freedom for individual creation. He's been grasping to make sense of his art all his life and its what has been driving him. You can see it in his paintings. The work itself becomes a question. Why this subject. What is relevant? What is the importance. Why this style of painting? What is the meaning of the photograph it's based on? The book is chock full of interesting ideas on art, art history and the current state of society and the culture. Even if you don't agree with it all - it's still a very interesting read. I do recommend that you first familiarize yourself with Richter's various works first. You'll enjoy the book all the more.