Artists

Georg Baselitz

1938-49	Hans-Georg Kern is born on January 23 1938 in Deutschbaselitz, a small village in the hilly farming country between Dresden and Bauzen, in the Oberlausitz region of that part of Germany which later became the German Democratic Republic. The family lives in a flat above the school where his father is the senior of two teachers. The library (later burnt by order of the local authorities) from the local castle is stored in the school. Among the books Georg discovers pencil drawings made by a member of the von Zechwitz family in the nineteenth century. This is his first encounter with art. Throughout the war the school is used as a garrison or as accommodation for soldiers. In front of the school is a large anti-aircraft battery. Towards the end of the war the school is destroyed in frontline fighting with the Russians while the family shelters in the cellars beneath. 'Uncle Bernhard', who is later to feature in Baselitz's work, lives in the woods near Deutschbaselitz. Georg helps the wild-life photographer Helmut Drechsler find subjects for ornithological pictures which are later published in book form. Many years later Baselitz paints bird pictures based on these photographs.
1950-54	The family moves to Kamenz where Georg attends the local high school. In the assembly hall hangs an original-size oleograph of the nineteenth-century painter Ferdinand von Rayski's picture "Interlude during a Hunt in the Wermersdorf Forest" (1859)\\\\; this later inspires Baselitz's 1969 painting "Der Wald auf dem Kopf" ("The Wood on its Head"). Discovers the burial ground of an ancient Slavic settlement and becomes interested in old stone crosses, which he later uses as motifs. Reads Jakob Böhme, whose portrait (the only one done during his lifetime) hangs in Kamenz city hall. Takes piano lessons, but with no great success. Has his first drawing lessons with Gottfried Zawadski. His parents fail to get him apprenticed as a teacher of drawing and porcelain painting. Begins to paint inspired by a landscape artist of the Neue Sachlichkeit school who works from nature. Does drawings of Wanger, Stalin, Beethoven and ecstatic women.
1955	His application to enrol at the Art Academy in Dresden is turned down.
1956	Applies successfully for admission to the Academy of Visual and Applied Art in Weissensee, East Berlin\\\; begins his studies in the winter term under Professors Herbert Behrens-Hangler and Walter Womacka. Behrens-Hangler, who teaches painting technique, has a great influence on Baselitz both artistically and ideologically. However, after only two semesters he is expelled from the Academy on the grounds of 'socio-political' immaturity. He may reapply on the condition that he works for one-year in the Schwarze Pumpe brown-coal mines. Not surprisingly he prefers to search for an alternative. Beginning of his friendship with A.R. Penck.
1957	Accepted for the class of Professor Hann Trier at the Academy of Visual Arts in Charlottenburg, West Berlin, though keeps his room in East Berlin for another six months. After three terms works at home. Intensive study of the artistic theories of Kasimir Malevich, Wassily Kandinsky and Ernst-Wilhelm Nay.
1958	Gives up his room in East Berlin and moves over to West Berlin. Meets his future wife Elke Kretzschmar. Visits the "New American Painting" exhibition from the Museum of Modern Art, New York that is being shown in the Hochschule für bildende Künste in Berlin.
1959	Visits the second Documenta exhibition in Kassel. Gives up his studio at the Academy and works from home. Drawings after Giovanni di Paolo and in the syle of Ensor. His first works in an individual style, including "Schönebecks Traum".
1960	Hitch-hikes to Amsterdam in July, where in the Stedelijk Museum he sees Duchamp's "Large Glass" and Soutine's picture of a slaughtered ox. Produces several drawings after Rembrandt, inspired by his trip to Amsterdam. Begins his "Rayski-Kopf" ("Rayski Head") series in November.
1961	On his first trip to Paris in July he visits some 200 private galleries in addition to public collections. Highlights are the Moreau Museum and a Picabia exhibition in the Place Furstemberg. He produces drawings after Pontormo and Gustave Moreau in Paris. First 'Pandemonium' exhibition and manifesto with Eugen Schönebeck. Attends Hann Trier's masterclass. Now calls himself Georg Baselitz in honour of his birth place. Tries to recapture childhood impressions in his imaginary portraits of "Uncle Bernard" and studies of heads after Ferdinand von Rayski, the nineteenth-century painter who worked in Saxony. Interest in the art of the mentally ill (Outsider Art, particularly works in the Prinzhorn Collection). Devotes considerable time to thinking about and experimenting with anamorphosis. Penck visits him in Berlin.
1962	Second "Pandemonium" manifesto with Schönebeck. Marries Elke Kretzschmar\\\\\\; their son Daniel is born. Finishes his studies and becomes friends with Michael Werner. Completes "P.D. Stengel" ("P.D. Stalk") and "Der Acker" ("The Field").
1963	First solo exhibition at Werner & Katz Gallery, Berlin, leads to the confiscation by the district attorney's office of "Die grosse Nacht im Eimer" ("Big Night Down the Drain") (1962-63) and "Der nackte Mann" ("The Naked Man") (1962)\\\\; under the obscenity laws the prosecution drags on until 1965, when the pictures are finally returned. Completes the series "P.D.-Füsse" ("P.D. Feet") .
1964	Spends the early part of the year in Schloss Wolfsburg and completes his first etchings there. '1st Orthodox Salon' exhibition at Michael Werner Gallery in Berlin. Baselitz's study of Russian art results in the "Idols" series, from which he shows "Oberon", "Die Peitschenfrau" ("The Whip Woman"), and "Fixe Idee" ("Idee Fixe") at the exhibition. Beginning of his friendship with Johannes Gachnang. Werner exhibits his etchings from Wolfsburg in the autumn.
1965	During a six-month residential scholarship at the Villa Romana in Florence, becomes interested in Mannerism: Rosso, Pontormo, Bronzino, Parmigianino, and Aspertino. Tries painting pictures from a detached perspective ( "Potpourri", "Tierstück" ["Animal Study"]). Continues to work on paintings begun in Berlin, including "Ludwig Richter auf dem Weg zur Arbeit" ("Ludwig Richter on his Way to Work") . Returns to Berlin in September. First show at the Munich gallery Friedrich & Dahlem. Paints "Die grossen Freunde" ("The Great Friends").
1966	"Grosse Freunde" exhibition at the Rudolf Springer Gallery, Berlin. Springer publishes a manifesto by the artist and purchases "Die grossen Freunde" and some of the "Hero" works (1965-6). A second son, Anton, is born. Moves to rural Osthofen, near Worms. Begins the fracture series which continues until 1969: "Vier Streifen" ("Four Stripes", 1966)\\\\; "Lockenkopf" ("Curly Head", 1967), "Waldarbeiter" ("Woodmen", 1967).
1967	Paints the work "B für Larry".
1968	Franz Dahlem takes an active interest in Baselitz's work and canvases art dealers on his behalf.
1969	First inverted picture, "Der Wald auf dem Kopf" ("The Wood on its Head") . Portraits of the artist's friends.
1970	First exhibition at the Heiner Friedrich Gallery in Munich. During the Cologne art fair Franz Dahlem presents the first exhibition of pictures with upside-down motifs (Galeriehaus in der Lindenstrasse). First retrospective of drawings, organised by Dieter Koepplin for the Basel Museum of Art.
1971	Family moves to Forst, on the edge of the Palatinate Forest, Sets up a studio in the old village school (in 1973 he rents a large shed in Musbach). Paints eagle pictures, bedroom scenes, studio interiors, landscapes painted after photos. Begins to paint themes suggested by illustrations in the gazette of the Dresden Society for the Preservation of Our Saxon Homeland. Exhibitions in Cologne (Tobiès & Silex and Borgmann galleries).
1972	The Mannheim Kunsthalle shows Baselitz's drawings and paintings. The Hamburg Kunstverein shows a survey exhibition of his works from 1962-72. Takes part in Documenta 5 in Kassel. Takes up the technique of finger-painting and paints such works as "Fingermalerei-Adler" ("Finger-painting: Eagle") and "Fingermalerei-Birken" ("Finger-painting: Birch Trees"). The Staatliche Graphische Sammlung in Munich shows his drawings and etchings. Johannes Gachnang exhibits the "Friends" portraits of 1969 in a show which runs for over a year in the temporary premises of the Goethe Institute in Amsterdam.
1973	Exhibition of "Hero" paintings at the Hans Neuendorf Gallery, Hamburg\\\\; regular exhibitions there continue until 1981. Fred Jahn edits the artist's graphic production and later publishes the first two volumes of a comprehensive print catalogue.
1974	First retrospective of prints at the Städtische Museum Leverkusen, Schloss Morsbroich. Paints series of Elke nudes and bedroom scenes, as well as landscapes with motifs taken from Deutschbaselitz. Renewed interest in American painting (Clyfford Still and Philip Guston).
1975	Family moves to Derneberg, near Hildesheim in Lower Saxony. First trip to New York\\\\; sees an exhibition featuring portraits by Dubuffet (Robert Elkon Gallery). Spends two weeks in a New York studio and paints two Saxon landscapes and eagle pictures on paper. Travels to Brazil, where his work is shown at the Bienal de Sao Paolo. Exhibits with Heiner Friedrich in Munich and Michael Werner in Cologne.
1976	Acquires an additional studio in Florence which he uses until 1981. Johannes Gachnang organises a survey exhibition of his work in the Bern Kunsthalle. Retrospective at the Staatsgalerie moderner Kunst in Munich, accompanied by the first extensive illustrated catalogue of his works. Siegfried Gohr organises an exhibition of his work in the Cologne Kunsthalle. Baselitz completes the "Elke Nudes" series.
1977	Begins to work on diptychs (still-lifes and nudes). Appointed Professor at the State Academy of Fine Arts, Karlsruhe. Withdraws pictures from the Kassel Documenta 6.
1978	Exhibits at Helen van der Meij Gallery, Amsterdam. Large multipanel pictures on tree themes. Rudi Fuchs visits the artist in Derneberg to plan his first exhibition at the Stedelijk van Abbe Museum in Eindoven (1979). Exhibition at the Galerie Laage-Salomon in Paris.
1979	Rudi Fuchs exhibits "Pictures 1977-1978" at the van Abbe Museum in Eindhoven. Paints the major works "Die Hörenleserin" ("The Gleaner") and "Die Trümmerfrau" ("The Bomb-Site Woman"). Works on the 18-part "Strassenbild" ("The Street Picture"), images which anticipate his wood sculpture. Exhibition of his large-scale linocuts at the Cologne Kunsthalle.
1980	Completes his first sculpture, "Modell für eine Skulptur" ("Model for a Sculpture") , the centerpiece of his exhibition in the German pavilion at the Venice Biennale (organised by Klaus Gallwitz). Nicholas Serota exhibits "Model for a Sculpture" at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London. Paints the three diptychs "Deutsche Schule" ("German School"), "Das Atelier" ("The Studio") and "Die Familie" ("The Family").
1981	Takes part in the "A New Spirit in Painting" exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London. Creates the "Orange Eaters" and "Drinkers" series. "Street Picture" exhibition at the Michael Werner Gallery, which travels to the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, organised by Eddy de Wilde. First exhibition at Xavier Fourcade Gallery, New York. Additional studio in Castiglione Fiorentino near Arezzo. Sabine Knust takes over the editing of the prints.
1982	Participates in the Kassel Documenta 7. Embarks on a new phase of intense sculptural activity (figures, heads). Creates the sequence of pictures "Man in Bed" for the "Zeitgeist" exhibition in Berlin, then works on his Munch pictures. Exhibits with Ileana Sonnabend in New York and Leslie Waddington in London. Retrospective of the fracture paintings of 1966-69 at the Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London.
1983	Transfers from the Karlsruhe Academy to the Academy of Visual Arts, Berlin. The major works "Nachtessen in Dresden" ("Dinner in Dresden") and "Der Brückechor" ("The Brücke Chorus") are followed by pictures treating Christian themes. First exhibition of sculptures at the Michael Werner Gallery, Cologne. Jean-Louis Froment stages survey of Baselitz's sculptural work in the Musée d'Art Contemporain in Bordeaux. Exhibition with Julian Schnabel at the Akron (Ohio) Art Museum. Start of the exhibition "Expressions: New Art from Germany" which tours from the Saint Louis Art Museum throughout the States. Retrospective at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London, which travels to the Basel Kunsthalle and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.
1984	Abgar pictures. The retrospective of drawings organised by Dieter Koepplin is also shown in Eindhoven, Bonn, Nuremberg, Hanover and Karlsruhe. A retrospective of the prints in the State Graphic Collection of the Neue Pinakothek, Munich, is shown with additional works in the print room of the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire in Geneva (organised by Rainer Michael Mason) and in Trier. First exhibition at the Mary Boone/Michael Werner Gallery in New York. Vancouver Art Gallery shows pictures from 1966-84.
1985	Finishes the sculpture "Der rote Mann" ("The Red Man"). At the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, Françoise Woimant exhibits a survey of prints and sculptures. Completes the major works "Die Nacht" ("The Night") and "Das Liebespaar" ("Loving Couple"). Ulrich Weisner co-ordinates an exhibition for the Bielefeld Kunsthalle, which travels to the Winterthur Museum of Art. Paintings of 1964-67 shown at the Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London.
1986	"Fight Motifs" and "Pastorales". Retrospective at the Beyeler Gallery, Basel. Vienna Secession stages an exhibition on the tree theme. In Hovikodden near Oslo, Per Hovdenakk shows "Fight Motifs" in the Henie-Onstad Art Centre. Creates "Gruss aus Oslo" ("Greetings from Oslo"), a sculpture that reflects his trip to Norway.
1987	Carl Haenlein organizes a sculpture and drawings retrospective for the Kestner Society Gallery, Hanover. Portraits of fellow-painters. "Pastorale" exhibition at the Ludwig Museum, Cologne. Exhibition of sculpture and early woodcuts at the Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London.
1988	Creates the sculpture "Tragischer Kopf" ("Tragic Head") and the paintings series "Das Motiv" ("The Motif"). Resigns professorship at the Berlin Academy. Now has a studio in Imperia on the Italian Riviera, and works on the 'Motif' sequence. In the Municipal Gallery at the Städelsche Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt, Klaus Gallwitz presents the exhibition "The Way of Invention", in which the early work up to 1964 is set against the sculptures of the eighties. Christos Joachimides organises a retrospective of works from 1965-87\\\\; the exhibition begins at the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, and transfers to the Hamburg Kunsthalle. The "Motif" complex is shown in the Bremen Kunsthalle. Begins "Ciao America" series.
1989	Awarded the Medal of the Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Culture Minister Jacques Lang. Takes part in the "Bilderstreit" exhibition in Cologne. Completes the painting "45", twenty wooden panels exhibited in 1990 at the Michael Werner Gallery, Cologne. Work begins on the retrospective exhibition to be held in 1994 at the Guggenheim Museum, New York.
1990	The Michael Werner Gallery in Cologne shows "45". An exhibition at the Fundació Caixa de Pensions in Barcelona and Madrid. The "Volkstanz" pictures are exhibited at the Anthony d'Offay Gallery in London. A large group of Baselitz's works is shown for the first time in the DDR at the Nationalgalerie im Alten Museum der Staatlichen Museen in Berlin. Werner Schade shows Baselitz drawings from the collection of the Basel Kupferstichkabinett and paintings from Berlin private collections. Hrald Szeeman organises the most comprehensive retrospective to date of Baselitz's paintings in the Zurich Kunsthaus, which then travels to Düsseldorf. Arnold Glimcher shows the group of sculptures "Dresdner Frauen" and the painting "45" at the Pace Gallery in NewYork. Baselitz produces no. 7 of the journal Krater & Wolke, which is dedicated to A.R. Penck. Michael Werner publishes the artist's bookMalelade with poems and 41 etchings by Baselitz, which are exhibited in 1991 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
1991	Gives the lecture "The Armour of the Painter" in Paris on the occasion of Lucio Amelio's exhibition of the sculpture "Frau aus dem Süden" at Pièce Unique. Takes part in the exhibition "Metropolis" in Berlin. Begins the series of 39 paintings "Bildübereins", which he works on until 1995. Retrospective of his graphic works from the collection of the Cabinet des Estampes in Geneva, an exhibition which travels to the IVAM Centre Julio Gonzales in Valencia, the Tate Gallery in London and the Malmö Konsthall. Exhibition titled "Hammergreen" at the Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London in the late autumn.
1992	Designs the set for Harrison Birtwistle's opera "Punch and Judy", which is produced under the direction of Pierre Audi at the Dutch Opera in Amsterdam. Survey exhibition of works from the last three years at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humblebaek, Denmark. Inclusion in the International Pavillion at the Venice Biennale with his sculpture "Männlicher Torso" ("Male Torso") and accompanying drawings. The Musée Nationale d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou shows Baselitz drawings from 1962-92.
1994	Baselitz designs a stamp for the French postal service. Exhibition of works from 1981-93 at the Saarlandmuseum in Saarbrücken at the same time as an exhibitio of Baselitz's sculptures from 1979-93 at the Hamburger Kunsthalle. Produces the manifesto "Malen aus dem Kopf, auf dem Kopf oder aus dem Topf" ("Painting from the Head, on its Head and from the Pot") for the exhibition "Gotik - neun monumentale Bilder" ("Gothic - Nine Monumental Paintings") at the Michael Werner Gallery in Cologne. The sculpture "Frau Paganismus" ("Mrs. Paganism") is shown at the Anthony d'Offay Gallery in London. Baselitz creates the fabric-covered sculpture "Armalamor" in Italy, which is installed in 1996 in the entrance hall of the new German Library in Frankfurt. Towards the end of the year the first paintings with a gold ground are made.
1995	Diane Waldman organises the first large-scale retrospective of Baselitz's work to be held in an American museum at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The exhibition then travels to the Los Angeles County Museum of Arts, to the Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Gardens in Washington D.C. and to the Nationalgalerie in Berlin. An exhibition in the autumn at Magazin 3 in Stockholm. The artist begins a series of family portraits based on old photographs towards the end of the year.
1996	Continues work on the Family Portraits throughout the year. Incorporates elements of Slavic folk art in a number of works. Wide-ranging retrospective at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. Baselitz creates the sculptures "Sentimental Holland" and "Mutter der Girlande" in Italy. At the end of the year there follow the large compositions "Wir daheim" and "Wir besuchen den Rhein", in which he brings together his whole family. "Georg Baselitz: Engravings, Woodcuts and Linocuts 1965-1992" at the Goethe Institue Gallery in August. Work shown in "From Figure to Object: A Century of Sculptor's Drawings", Frith Street Gallery/Karsten Schubert Gallery in September and November.
1997	Exhibition of the Family Portraits at PaceWildenstein in New York and at the Dresdner Kunstverein im Residenzschloss Dresden. Retrospective at the Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Bologna. In the summer Baselitz creates a further series of paintings after motifs from Slavic behind-glass painting (Hinterglasmalerei) motifs. Opening of the exhibition "Portraits of Elke" at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. The Deutsche Bank exhibits its Baselitz collection at the State Art Gallery in Moscow, and then at the Art Gallery of Chemnitz and the Johannesburg Art Gallery. Baselitz completes the sculpture "Mondrians Schwester".
1998	The Museo Rufino Tamayo exhibits the first survey of Baselitz's work in Mexico City. Baselitz creates the monumental paintings "Friedrichs Frau im Abgrund" ("Friedrich's Wife in the Abyss") and "Friedrichs Melancholie" ("Friedrich's Melancholoy") for the Reichstag in Berlin. The year-long exhibition begins of works from the collection of the Deutsche Bank, titled "Georg Baselitz, Künstler im Geschäftsjahr 1998" in the Abbey of St. Anne. PaceWildenstein in New York shows Baselitz's newest works after motifs from Soviet Realism.
1999	Exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum of works from primarily Dutch collections, entitled "Reise in die Niederlande 1972-1999" ("Travels in the Netherlands 1972-1999"). Large retrospective of the "Monumentale Druckgraphik 1977-1999" at the Musée Rath in Geneva. Throughout the year, Baselitz creates portraits of dogs and group scenes of dogs with the collective title "A Domestic Scenery". Exhibition "Georg Baselitz: New Paintings" in the spring at the Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London.
	Georg Baselitz lives and works in Derneburg and Imperia.
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