Cristea Roberts Gallery
Georg Baselitz: Radical Master Printer
Georg Baselitz: Radical Master Printer
Georg Baselitz (b.1938) grew up in East Germany where he was isolated from Western European advances in art. In 1956 he emigrated to West Berlin to continue his studies, having been expelled from the Academy of Art in East Berlin for non-compliance to the official guidelines for artistic practise. At this point he adopted the surname Baselitz, reflecting his birthplace, Deutschbaselitz, in Saxony. Baselitz's early experiences with printmaking began at a municipal workshop for artists in West Berlin. He started with etching and soon turned to woodcut. During a stay in Florence in 1965, he discovered sixteenth-century Mannerist prints whose imagery, particularly the depiction of the human body, had a lasting impact on his own cast of figure types. Through Baselitz’s long career pathos and identity have been recurring themes developed though his distinctive poetic imagery. Most unique of all is the inversion of his compositions, turned upside-down, in what has become his very own revolutionary format; a stance which bares opportunities to explore abstract qualities of the figure and psyche.
Image Credit:
Georg Baselitz print studio 2019. Photograph: Leeor Engländer
Georg Baselitz at Niels Borch Jensen print studio 2020 (detail)
Georg Baselitz print studio (detail)
Mano (gold) I-X 2019 (installation view)
Baselitz established his international reputation with exhibitions at the Venice Biennale 1980 and Documenta 1983. Solo exhibitions and retrospectives include Kunstmuseum, Basel (2018); Beyeler Foundation, Basel which travelled to Hischhorn Museum, Washington D.C. (2018); CAFA Art Museum, Beijing; Fire Station, Doha (2017); Tate Modern London (2015); Kunsthalle Baden-Baden (2009); Royal Academy of Arts, London (2007); Louisiana Museum, Copenhagen (2006); Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin (1996); Guggenheim Museum, New York (1995); Bibliothéque Nationale, Paris (1990) and Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (1983). His paintings, sculptures and prints are in the collections of major museums around the world.
Georg Baselitz lives and works in Basel, Switzerland; Lake Ammersee, Germany; and Imperia, Italy.
Cristea Roberts Gallery is the official publisher of Georg Baselitz’s prints.
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Cristea Roberts Gallery
43 Pall Mall London SW1Y 5JG United Kingdom
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