Welcome to the personal website of Till Richter!

I am an art historian of contemporary art, independent curator and arts writer/critic. This site serves as a platform for presenting professional and personal developments; as an introduction to what I am doing. It is a work in progress and the contents will continue to grow over time. It is also a good way to stay in touch with me since this is not always easy, or so I am told.

I’ll answer some questions that I get asked routinely so you get a better idea of who the person behind the academic and curatorial work is.

How did you decide that you wanted to be in art history?

Parents and grandparents dragged me into any museum, exhibit or church we encountered. Art was very important to them but not to me. However, at around age 14 the big turn-around came and I actually organized trips for my friends and me to go to other cities to see art exhibits there, particularly Düsseldorf and Essen. Then we moved to a provincial town and I realized very abruptly what I was missing and that I couldn’t live without art. I also had a very creative vein, so still in high school it was clear that I wanted to study both fashion design and art history. Fashion design wasn’t for me in the end because it is a business mostly without intellect and amounts to slavery at least in the beginning. I still enjoy fashion as an element of visual culture and I still keep a creative mindset, which comes in very handy in studio visits and critiques.

Where are you from anyway?

I am born and raised in Germany. Though when one traces back the family history there are Swiss roots around 1380 and French roots from long before the Revolution. Currently, I live in Austin, TX and my home base in Germany is Berlin. I have studied in Hamburg, Paris and Austin.

What brought you to America?

A fortunate incident. While I was learning Spanish at the Instituto Allende in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico, I met the then President of Concordia University at Austin, Dr. David Zersen. He offered me a job as Assistant Professor of Art History, Associate Gallery Director and International Student Director as soon as I finished the Maitrise (MA) at the Sorbonne of Paris; a wonderful first job very much in line with what I am all about. This didn’t last long though as I was soon lucky enough to be offered the prestigious Harrington Fellowship at the University of Texas at Austin to do my doctorate there.

What is your research about?

I like to work on fundamental, methodological and procedural questions more than on piecing together the life of an artist from the past, weeding through old documents. While I recognize the value and necessity of this kind of art history and know how to do it if necessary, my interest is more in answering or at least exploring questions like “How do we evaluate art?”, “What makes an art work art historically significant?”, and “Who decides and how?”. Naturally, this kind of question can only be explored when one is ready to work in and with other disciplines such as Economics, Sociology, Anthropology or even Neurology, which is precisely what I love to do and why I love art history so much. It offers an incredible amount of connections to many other fields of intellectual and practical significance.

My dissertation carries the working title of Evaluation of Contemporary Art with Art Historical and Market Criteria. It is directed by Dr. Richard Shiff in Art History with Dr. Stephen Magee as a co-director in Economics. It should be finished in the summer of 2009.

What are your aspirations for the future?

In the past years I have curated a number of exhibitions of emerging artists, among them the Rising Stars series of exhibits and projects and the first commercial solo gallery show of Berlin artist Michael Wutz in the USA. I also found out that I love teaching and have a true “sense of mission” to share my passion and curiosity for art with students.

Thus I am looking forward to a career in academics that allows me to shape a future generation of art historians and provides me with opportunities for continued curatorial and critical involvement in the world of contemporary art. I enjoy bringing together the great people in my extensive network and working with them on projects that not only have an impact on individual lives but also ideally even to the discipline of art history, be it through writing, exhibitions or consulting.

On a personal level, I am eager to add works to my growing collection of contemporary art. There are more works than I can hang already, so that’s a good start.