Georg Baselitz

Georg Baselitz, born Hans-Georg Kern, is a key figure in contemporary German art. He is a painter, engraver, sculptor and collector of Renaissance prints. With bold and fleshy brushstrokes as the main component of his artistic vocabulary, and a chainsaw and axe as his preferred sculptural tools, Baselitz is primarily associated with Neo-Expressionism and new figurative tendencies. These are seen as the result of striving for forms of expression other than Informel and Socialist Realism. The artist initially studied at the Hochschule für Bildende und Angewandte Kunst in East Berlin. After one year he was expelled and moved to West Berlin, where he enrolled at the University of the Arts. Together with Eugen Schönebeck, Baselitz formulated a manifesto in 1961 and 1962 and organised two exhibitions in an abandoned house in Berlin-Charlottenburg under the title “Pandämonium”. This was followed by his increasing critical recognition and his first solo exhibition at the Werner&Katz Gallery in Berlin (1963), also the opening show of the renowned gallery. Over the last four decades, Baselitz has been exhibited and collected worldwide; he has participated in important mega-exhibitions such as the Documenta in Kassel (1972, 1982, 1987, 1992), the São Paulo Biennale (1975) and the Venice Biennale (2003) and has constantly been at the height of his popularity. Recently, the artist created a tribute to Willem de Kooning, one of his most important gurus since the late 1950s, in which he stated: “Most of what you perceive as freedom is de Kooning.