For 60 years, he has treated uncertainty as an ethical duty. …
That is the priceless example he offers today’s young artists, whose every mistake or hesitation gets pounced on by digital Savonarolas. So much dogmatism out there, so much high-volume moralizing. The voice we need to hear is the voice that says: I don’t know. I’m not sure. I’m still thinking. I’m still working.
(Jason Farago, “The Sublime Farewell of Gerhard Richter, Master of Doubt,” NYTimes, 3-5-20)
(c) 2020 JMN
Love Richter, but don’t have a clue what Jason Farago is talking about. Richter mastered many an approach, with the probably exception of traditional representational painting. He liked to experiment. But the part about uncertainty, uuuh, I don’t get that at all. And why is he getting pounded on by “digital Savonarolas”? Are people moralizing about Richter’s technical faults? They can object all they want, Richter is set. When you are that rich and famous as an artist, I doubt criticisms do much damage. Most damage is to the pocket book.