When considering the use of photography as a means of
gathering imagery for painting in 1993 Gerhard Richter talks to Hans-Ulrich
Obrist and describes how he views the use of photography is becoming a kind of sketch.
"In the past, painters went out into the open air and scratched. We take snaps."
For Richter this association with the word 'snaps'
relates the use of the photography to the every day. He adds value to the
experience, or sensation captured in the picture because it's important to the
person who took it in the first place. When Richter is quoted as calling photographs
and their function as being cult objects he comments:
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| Gerhard Richter, “Reisebüro” (1966) |
He is saying here that the strength of the photograph is
more the actual reason for hanging it not necessarily the appropriation for his
needs. He is placing importance upon the reason for its existence in the first
place.
When questioned further about the use of photography in his painting Richter takes a defensive stance and says;
When questioned further about the use of photography in his painting Richter takes a defensive stance and says;
"Many critics thought that my art was a critique of
contemporary life: criticising it for being cut off from direct experience. But
that was never what I meant."
What did Richter mean by this? His photo-paintings, that span decades, show images of his family and film stills, the surfaces sometimes being blurred, the faces indistinguishable or otherworldly. Yet they are deeply personal the details that are hidden by a gesture or the position of, say, his daughter turning away from the camera seem to imply a very personal experience that the viewer will never truly understand. We are looking into a world that belongs to the artist and are trying to glean as much information that is possible. We will never know that true sensation that first initiated the
What did Richter mean by this? His photo-paintings, that span decades, show images of his family and film stills, the surfaces sometimes being blurred, the faces indistinguishable or otherworldly. Yet they are deeply personal the details that are hidden by a gesture or the position of, say, his daughter turning away from the camera seem to imply a very personal experience that the viewer will never truly understand. We are looking into a world that belongs to the artist and are trying to glean as much information that is possible. We will never know that true sensation that first initiated the
photo from which the painting was constructed.
The atmosphere that Richter draws upon are his own sensations, his experiences and on many levels this is why the appropriation of photography when used as a source material for painting relying so heavily upon the artists initial response to this secondary source.
The atmosphere that Richter draws upon are his own sensations, his experiences and on many levels this is why the appropriation of photography when used as a source material for painting relying so heavily upon the artists initial response to this secondary source.
BORCHARDT-HUME, A. (2011) Gerhard Richter: Panorama: A
Retrospective; Tate, England
OBRIST, H. (ed) (1995) Gerhard Richter The Daily Practice
of Painting Writings 1962-1993; Thames and Hudson, Great Britain
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