Georg Baselitz: Always Against the Tide - Sometimes Upside Down

He is an absolutely unique figure in the art scene: since the beginning of his career, Georg Baselitz has gone against the mainstream and has remained true to this maxim to this day. His non-conformism has made him one of the most significant representatives of contemporary art.

Countless exhibitions in all major institutions worldwide, as well as numerous awards, document his special status as an international artist. For example, he was appointed an honorary member of the Royal Academy in London and was honoured there with a major retrospective in 2007. On his 80th birthday, six museums in German-speaking countries organised exhibitions in his honour. Over the decades, his work has been awarded prizes in many countries around the world, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, England, Japan, and Austria. Additionally, he is represented in all of the world's prestigious collections.

The Museum of Modern Art in New York holds over 70 of his works in its collection. This series of superlatives spanning over 60 years of highly committed artistic work could go on endlessly. And even in 2022, only a few can compete with Georg Baselitz, born in 1938, in the international art scene. He has been listed among the top five greatest contemporary artists in the ranking list named "Kunstkompass" by the German magazine Capital for years.

His fame and continued great relevance in contemporary art are also reflected in the current prices for his works. While it is possible to find an "authentic Baselitz" in the four-digit range, his paintings, woodcuts, and sculptures quickly reach six-figure amounts. In recent years, his works have often surpassed the million-dollar mark at auctions. It seems that as he ages, the interest in Georg Baselitz continues to grow.

A Critical Mind – Then and Now

Baselitz owes his great success in large part to his non-conformism, which he has maintained to this day. However, his rebellious nature initially caused him plenty of trouble. After studying for barely two semesters at the East Berlin Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin-Weißensee, he was expelled by the faculty for being "politically immature."

Indeed, the university administration considered his interest in Pablo Picasso to be too big, as Picasso's works no longer fit into the worldview of Eastern Germany. Challenging the establishment remained part of Georg Baselitz's programme in the following decades. Frustrated with the state-controlled art in Eastern Germany, he moved to Western Germany. However, he also felt disconnected from the established schools there. He had no affinity for the popular abstraction of the time or the emerging Pop Art movement.

Against all trends and dogmas, he sought his own style and developed very individual expressive and, at the same time, figurative forms of expression for both his painting and his sculpture. His pursuit of autonomous and independent art also caused his first major scandal. At today's legendary exhibition at the Werner & Katz Gallery in 1963, he displayed the painting "The Big Night in the Bucket," which unabashedly depicted a young man with an erect genital. Baselitz wanted to draw attention to the fact that there was significant art from Germany alongside American art.

For the public and the moral guardians of the 1960s, however, this work was simply provocative and classified as pornography. The picture was confiscated, and legal investigations by the public prosecutor followed. Fortunately, this move ensured that the name Georg Baselitz became known in the art scene and among the general public. However, in the following years, the individualist continued to fight against significant resistance in the art world. Ultimately, this only fuelled his determination and led to his eventual success.

Georg Baselitz is now undeniably part of the art canon. However, he has maintained his critical view of the art scene to this day. He criticises the younger generation of artists for being too timid, uninventive, and non-rebellious. He believes that art policies, with their funding and subsidies, make young artists lazy and produce trivial conformist art. It is a harsh criticism, but according to Baselitz's philosophy, good art and the breaking of conventions are intimately linked, both then and now.

Baselitz Redefined the Concept of Image

To accuse Georg Baselitz of his rebellion and provocation being pure ends in themselves would be inadequate. Rather, he is engaged in a constant search for new interpretations of the concept of image. Since Baselitz made the decision to paint figuratively, he has never aimed to depict reality. The subjects are of little interest to him, as are any potential messages behind them. He is concerned with painting itself and its possibilities for impact.

To achieve this, he elevates the objects in his paintings to a new level and redefines them in unconventional ways. This approach is reflected in his unmistakable imagery and artistic form concept. Whether he creates sculptures with an axe and chainsaw or lets paintings emerge in vibrant colour eruptions, everything appears wild, impulsive, and powerful.

However, Baselitz took his greatest step toward an individualised concept of the image in the late 1960s when he started turning his motifs upside down. Through this seemingly simple idea, he completely transformed the character of his paintings. He wanted to break the fatal dependence of images on reality, according to the artist. At the same time, he also unsettled the viewing habits of the spectators in an unprecedented way.

To this day, the upside-down positioning of his pictures is Baselitz's unmistakable trademark and widely recognised distinctive feature.

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