"Their permanent presence [of the old traditional paintings out of the past] compels us to produce something different, which is neither better nor worse, but which has to be different because we painted the Isenheim Alter [of Grünewald, 14th century] yesterday.. ..the better we know tradition – i.e., ourselves and the more responsibly we deal with it, the better things we will make similar, and the better things we will make different."
Gerhard Richter

January 1, 1970

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Original Language: English

Sources

p. 107, note 60

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gerhard_Richter