Rudolf L. Reiter - Bis unsere Leben wieder eins sind

Rudolf L. Reiter-this solitary man, a neoromanticist, will make the quiet introvert in our souls ring, this lyric of subdued colours and timeless snapshots approaches us in his strange and yet familiar, graceful images. - Or is it rather ourselves approaching him (I almost feel as if he expects us to come up to him)? When he leaves reality behind him, when he tenderly creates poetic, enchanted colour transitions of almost fantastic beauty. Yes it is well worth the while to approach Rudolf Reiter's work with the sensitivity which he hirnself applies when he respectfully tries to grasp a human image. He will not disclose his or our secrets, but he will make human dignity visible, as we can see in his Hamsun cycle: »Victoria«. Herehe expresses his amazement at his fellow humans and at the world around us, and he succeeds in emphasizing moods so that the onlooker's sensitivity, phantasy, and creativity, are stimulated. Reiter 's paintings convey a kind of allegory and symbolism. They are moulded dreams floating as legends and growing on our intuition. Whoever approaches Reiter will be invited to take part in his sensual dance and enjoyment and in a heavenly togetherness, not subject to changes of emotion or exchange rates. They seem to let the humanity of his creations develop behind transparent veils, which actually will lead humans to draw more closely to– gether, much more so than any formal clarity could bring about. He will make the typical, the generally true, the meaningful , lookout from what he is express– ing in an attempt to get hold ofwhat is otherwise not tangible, even less tangible for those intellectuals used mainly to think in rational, down-to-earth terms. A human being, however, is more than what can be rationally comprehended. And this is where the artist is at work; he will open the door to the humane, to humanity. All of us are summoned to follow. It is high time, ladies and gentle– men! Therefore, Reiterseeshis task, the task of an artist, in filling the gap between in– tellectuals, between rationalism with its adoration for formula and science, by guiding them towards sensitivity and to an all-embracing humanness. For him, as for any artist, humanity is a greater value than rational intellectualism. Reiter, through the irrational contents of his paintings summans us to live in them and to create them anew for ourselves. We will feel that Reiter as an artist lets the human individual in us grow and conveys to it the power to recreate nature as an ideal for the free mind. We are summoned to accept Reiter's information (as all artists' information), and to read in it. We must start training and practising that. It is time again. It may be that this will make us sympathize, but it may also create antipathy. Nobody can remain indifferent to art when reading, sensing or looking at works of art. So please open your senses to perceive what Rudolf Reiter shows us, your senses may even find the essence of existence which you have been longing to find for so much time. Prof. Horst Schüppel t Bad Homburg, 1983