René Heeres artist

Well, my job as a teacher is, not only to challenge my students, but also to broaden their horizon. To force them to think out of the box.

I show them the picture made by Gerhard Richter: “Betty”. At first glance, they think it is a picture, a “photo”. And are surprised when I tell them, it is an oilpainting. “Wow, how realistic, great artist, this guy knows how to do the job”.

Then I show them the other, abstract paintings of Richter. Without telling them that these paintings are made by the same artist. They are confused. They don’t have the experience in “seeing”, to judge these paintings, to “come to a verdict”.

And of course, to enlarge their confusion, I finally tell them, it’s the same artist.

Leonardo Da Vinci: “There are three classes of people: Those who see, Those who see when they are shown, Those who do not see.