535 - Georg Baselitz (1938 Deutschbaselitz, Saxony – Salzburg 2026)

Georg Baselitz (1938 Deutschbaselitz, Saxony – Salzburg 2026) “Un Giorno Particolare” Oil on canvas. 2009. Diameter approx. 230.5 cm. Signed, dated “8.V.2009,” and titled on the reverse of the canvas. Marked with a directional arrow on the stretcher. • Outstanding painting from Baselitz’s groundbreaking “Remix” phase • Monumental tondo as a synthesis of classical pictorial tradition and radical painterly freedom • Floating pastel tones and transparent glazes in powerful contrast to expressive black Georg Baselitz—An Essay When Hans-Georg Kern was born on January 23, 1938, in Deutsch-Baselitz to a family of teachers, there was no indication of his future international career. His hometown was located east of Dresden in Upper Lusatia. Baselitz once claimed that the ivory carver Leonhard Kern (1588–1662) was among his ancestors. Perhaps his fondness for the sinuous lines of Mannerist printmaking was a later reflection of this possible heritage. As a boy, Georg was a rebellious, unruly character, as he himself later admitted. His desire to leave the countryside soon led him to Berlin, where he began studying in the eastern part of the city. However, he soon moved to West Berlin because he found no appeal in studying in the GDR. He was expelled from the art academy in Weißensee for “social immaturity.” In 1967, he enrolled at the West Berlin Academy of Fine Arts under Hann Trier. Over the next few years, he sought guidance in art history and through travel, for example to Paris and Amsterdam. He wrote manifestos full of dark metaphors and allusions, initially in collaboration with Eugen Schönebeck. In 1961, he had adopted an artist’s name based on his place of origin. It was not merely a geographical reference but a statement of intent: a reworking of his own life story and the historical circumstances. The “Heroes” or “Characters” series, in which he processed the destruction and trauma caused by World War II, feels like a first act of liberation. His artistic path diverged from the prevailing Informel movement in Paris and the emerging Pop Art movement in America. He chose to follow his own individual path. An example from these years is the ink drawing “Shepherd” from 1966. With this and similar works, he laid the groundwork in 1966 for the phase of his oeuvre known as the “Fraktur-Bilder.” The figures were divided, cut up, and isolated as separate parts. Gradually, a distance emerged from the immediate reflection on destruction and disorientation. A change of location also contributed to this; Baselitz left Berlin and moved near Worms, to a wine-growing region on the Middle Rhine. In addition to landscapes, animal motifs such as cows, eagles, and birds now appeared in his works. During these years, he regularly produced prints, one of the artist’s specialties. He had begun in 1964 using simple means, but experimented in various directions throughout the 1970s. His works include etchings, woodcuts, overpainted prints, and combinations of techniques. He now sometimes worked in extensive series. This led to the creation of the seven prints in the portfolio “Eine Woche” in 1970–72. During 1974–75, Baselitz created 36 etchings titled “Bäume.” The “Adler” portfolio is particularly impressive. It features a spectacularly designed cover, based on colored woodcuts, and eleven sheets inside that demonstrate an irrepressible spirit of experimentation. The eagle motif was chosen as a starting point to be explored in depth. Depictions of eagles are among the earliest surviving works by Baselitz’s student, Hans-Georg Kern. The motif remained a constant in his oeuvre—right up until his later years. But regardless of how Baselitz used the motif, the eagle is a constant element of cultural history. In coats of arms, on flags, and in symbolism, the eagle appears in countless variations. Of course, Baselitz was not the only one to interpret this motif. Among the artists of his time, it was above all Marcel Broodthaers who presented an exhibition in Düsseldorf in 1972 titled “The Eagle from the Oligocene to the Present,” as part of his fictional “Musée d’Art Moderne, Département des Aigles.” For Baselitz, the political and ideological implications of depictions of the eagle play a role, though they are less obvious at first glance. This is because, as a boy who loved nature, he had been able to observe eagles—as well as other animals—in the wild. He was able to deepen his knowledge with the help of popular magazines such as the “Sächsische Heimatblätter,” which had been published since 1955. As an artist well-versed in natural history, he was very familiar with the eagles’ habitat and way of life, so that the “Eagle Portfolio” contained a rich variety of depictions of this king of the skies. Subsequently, Baselitz developed a r