Richard Artschwager (1923-2013)

Richard Artschwager influenced me within two weeks of my arrival in New York City on the night of Dec. 31, 1976. In the freezing winter of 1977, I visited the Leo Castelli Gallery on West Broadway and saw Richard's works. I remember standing in front of a wood grained Formica altar, next to a large painting in black and white Celotex, and scratching my head in wonder. In his 1988 retrospective at the Whitney Museum, I was amazed by his works.

One day in 1992, Richard appeared unannounced in my studio at 435 Hudson Street. He had a folder of drawings under his arm and his weird grin. He asked, "Do you want to trade drawings?" I said "sure," and gave him two 5-by-7-inch watercolors for his large charcoal drawing.
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