Georg Baselitz - Biography

Born in 1938 in Deutschbaselitz, since the sixties Hans-Georg Kern has literally been turning the art world and his pictures upside-down under the pseudonym Georg Baselitz.He studied at the Hochschule für bildende Künste in East Berlin but after he was reproved for “social immaturity” he moved to west Berling where he continued his studies with Professor Hahn Trier. His examination of the system of the German Democratic Republic and the ideal human could therefore begin early in his work as an artist.

"The narrow-minded and prude audience of this time was not ready for his depiction of a masturbating Hitler-youth boy."

Together with Eugen Schönebeck Baselitz published the “Paednamonic manifest” in which both artists rebel against traditional art forms. Baselitz did not only show his revolutionary behaviour in the German Democratic Republic, with his picture “Die große Nacht im Eimer“ he caused a world-wide scandal in 1963 that resulted in the confiscation of the piece. The narrow-minded and prude audience of this time was not ready for his depiction of a masturbating Hitler-youth boy.

 

Baseliz’s pictures are dominated by bold colours and disorder, yet they are harmoniously composed. For the artist “German” is always a synonym for brutality. This “German-ness” is always visible in the style of his work, especially his wood sculptures show his violent approach to the material.

 

Baselitz dealt with the aesthetics of his youth in the cycle “Russenbilder” at the end of the nineties. He painted Lenin and Stalin in his usual manner and turned them upside-down, some of the paintings show white circles from paint cans that were standing on the canvas while he was painting.

 

Later Baselitz started a new project, he painted new versions of his most famous paintings and titled them “Remix”. His goal was to push the envelope and bring out the best in his paintings, making them more contemporary. Critics see this work as proof that Baselitz had gotten tired, yet his painting has become faster and denser with age.

Georg Baselitz - collections

The work of Georg Baselitz can be found in numerous public collections such as the Städel in Frankfurt, the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich and the Tate Gallery in London. His work has been bought for private collections such as the collection Essl, the collection Ströher in Darmstadt and the Foundation Beyerler in Basel.

 

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