#georg baselitz

[subnitida]

Georg Baselitz, The Hand (Die Hand), woodcut, 2007

[wildoute]

[davidhudson]

Happy 88th, Georg Baselitz.

1963 photo by Heinz Wunnicke.

[topcat77]

Georg Baselitz

“Ekely,” 2005

[karma--police]

Georg Baselitz, Im Wald ein Wesen gefunden, 2025 Oil on canvas 460 x 300 cm (181.1 x 118.11 in)

[archiveofcanvas]

G Baselitz

[peterdoroshenko]

[germanpostwarmodern]

With his provocative nature and upside down paintings the recently deceased Georg Baselitz shaped German postwar art. But behind his large canvases and grandiloquent character also hides an extensive graphic oeuvre that is softer, more restrained and thus shows a different side of Baselitz. In an interview he once said „…that the stability in my thinking and working is more visible in graphics than in painting“, a statement that underscores the importance of his graphic works.

During his time as fellow at the Villa Romana in Florence in 1965 Baselitz himself started collecting prints by the Italian mannerist Parmigianino, roughly two years after he had made his first etchings and two years before his first woodcuts. In 1977 Baselitz added linocuts to his portfolio, demonstrating his deep interest in the different forms of print. Up to now this comprehensive body of works has been recorded in four volumes (the fifth volume follows in July): the first two volumes, covering the years 1963 until 1974 and 1974 until 1982, have been published by Johannes Gachnang and gallerist Fred Jahn in 1983 and 1987 with mostly black-and-white illustrations.

For decades the project of a catalogue raisonné of the artist’s prints lay idle but was eventually continued by Rainer Michael Mason and Detlev Gretenkort who in 2019 published the third volume with Snoeck. „Georg Baselitz - Peintre Graveur III: 1983-1989“ is a meticulously researched collection of Baselitz’ graphic works between 1983 and 1989 that in one pivotal point breaks with the first two volumes: it contains only color illustrations, a major improvement in comparison with the earlier volumes. The volume presents a lavish overview of Baselitz’ 1980s graphic output and the variety of motifs as well as their formal reduction that so in line with the medium. Accordingly the present volume offers a wonderful opportunity to not only discover a different side of the artist but also get acquainted with a quantitatively significant part of his oeuvre. Warmly recommended!