Gerhard Richter

He sticks to a strict routine, waking at 6:15 every morning. He makes breakfast for his family, takes Ella to school at 7:20 and is in the studio by 8. At 1 o'clock, he crosses the garden from the studio back to the house. The grass in the garden is uncut. Richter proudly points this out, to show that even it is a matter of his choosing, not by chance. At 1 o'clock, he eats lunch in the dining room, alone. A housekeeper lays out the same meal for him each day: yogurt, tomatoes, bread, olive oil and chamomile tea.

After lunch, Richter returns to his studio to work into the evening. ''I have always been structured,'' he explains. ''What has changed is the proportions. Now it is eight hours of paperwork and one of painting.'' He claims to waste time -- on the house, the garden -- although this is hard to believe. ''I go to the studio every day, but I don't paint every day. I love playing with my architectural models. I love making plans. I could spend my life arranging things. Weeks go by, and I don't paint until finally I can't stand it any longer. I get fed up. I almost don't want to talk about it, because I don't want to become self-conscious about it, but perhaps I create these little crises as a kind of a secret strategy to push myself. It is a danger to wait around for an idea to occur to you. You have to find the idea.'' As he talks, I notice a single drop of paint on the floor beneath one of his abstract pictures, the only thing out of place in the studio.

The New York Times Magazine, January 27, 2002

(Thanks to Dylan Chatain.)

Comments

[MostEmailedNews.com]

Sounds like a kind of boring lunch.

- T

http://mostemailednews.com

[Modern Painter]

Gerhard Richter is one of my favorite painters.
This is a great piece,thank you,
Gabriel

[Kathleen Benton]

This quote points out that being an artist is a job, just like any other, and artists go to work every day just like any employed person.

I'm an artist as well and also follow a predicable routine, like most people. That doesn't mean I always get the same amount of work done everyday, or always make great art work. Most of the time it's just work; inspiration comes and goes, just as what is accomplished at any job is better somedays than others.

I admire Gerhard Richter's artwork and I'm glad to know he considers himself as normal as the rest of us--except the unmowed lawn thing, now with that does he want us to think he is original?!

[costa]

yea,inspiration comes and goes.
:)

[lionas]

Very interesting article and the blog is beautifully decorated, where you take the material for publication?

Thank you

[draw people]

I've always though being an artist does require a lifestyle slightly different than most other professions. You need structure (otherwise you won't be productive and get anything done) but you must allow time and place for creativity. There's a subtle balance that the good artists learn to develop.

[Frank Castle]

How could lunch be boring, there's food!

[santanu borah]

Yeah the lunch is a tad to structured... Mr Richter Indian? Thai? Mexican? I love his watercolours the most

[Jutty DeLaney]

Thanks for sharing, I hope you still our president in the same lite. Stephen King My Favoriate Green Mile. All good articles

[john bauer]

Gerhard sounds like a man who know what he wants ,how he wants it and at what time. there is something very relaxing about this kind of man. We need more people in this world that know where they are going with their lives. Mr. Richter has already figured this out.

[Lee Gascoyne]

I went to see a major retrospective of Richter's in London last year and was impressed. As an artists it's always interesting to hear how other artists structure their time, and comforting to know that he's not painting constantly while he's in the studio! More like preparing to paint, which i can identify with.