Where and how do you find your inspiration?
Through nature observation and partly my analogue macro photography.
What does light mean to you?
No life without light.
What is your favorite time of day to be artistic?
During my (day-to-day) job as a surveying engineer in the transport department of the city of Frankfurt am Main, I was only able to paint at night. However, I prefer to work in the mornings.
In your opinion, is art important for society and if so, why?
Yes, art is important for society because it invites the viewer to see and touch and encourages inventing.
If you could only paint with one color, which would you choose?
Red.
Who or what has influenced your artistic style the most?
I was most influenced by Piet Mondrian, Francois Morellet, the Zero group and exhibitions on kinetic and concrete art.
What is the most interesting thing a critic or collector has ever said about your work?
The art critic Wolfgang Christlieb from the Munich Abendzeitung wrote on June 8, 1967 on the occasion of the "Great Art Exhibition" in the Haus der Kunst, Munich: "It should be noted that impulses are coming from the younger generation. A beautiful Pfahler, a magistral Frühtrunk, a geometric mountain range by V. v. Seckendorff, Apartes by Lothar Quinte and so on, these are achievements that point in the direction of geometry and 'hard edge'. On the whole, the group that moves graphically around the Edition Helgard-Quinte-Rottluff seems to be the most solid ground in Germany at the moment."
How has your artistic style changed over the past 65 years?
After time-consuming preparatory work with drafts and sketches, compositions were created. The finished pictures were often impulsively washed or brushed off. After this process, the magical moment suddenly developed when painting, in which what had happened merged together again and took shape. Each new picture meant a step forward from the starting point, with new insights that were not foreseeable at the beginning. The current works developed from sketches and drafts, which can also change during the painting process when transferred to canvas.
If you were to act in a movie, would you rather play the villain or the hero?
I would want to play the villain.
Do you like rainy days?
Yes, I really like rainy days.
What do you prefer: beer or wine? Coffee or tea?
I like drinking espresso and green tea.
If you were an animal, which one would you choose?
I would choose the stork.
What subject in school did you like the most (and which one did you hate)?
I liked art classes the most; I wasn't into gymnastics.
What is the best song of all time for you?
At the award ceremony for the Hein Heckroth stage design prize in 2009 in the Giessen city theater to Robert Wilson, the German theater actress Angela Winkler sang the "Vilja Lied" from the operetta "The Merry Widow" in a very touching way for me. I always remember it fondly.
