Georg Baselitz facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Georg Baselitz
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Georg Baselitz in a photograph by Oliver Mark
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| Born |
Hans-Georg Bruno Kern
23 January 1938 Deutschbaselitz, Gau Saxony, Germany
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| Died | 30 April 2026 (aged 88) |
| Known for | Painting, sculpture, graphic design |
| Movement | Neo-expressionism |
| Spouse(s) | Johanna Elke Kretzschmar |
Georg Baselitz (born January 23, 1938, died April 30, 2026) was a famous German artist. He was a painter, sculptor, and graphic artist. In the 1960s, he became known for his bold and expressive paintings of people and objects.
A big change in his art happened in 1969. He started painting his subjects upside down! He did this to make people focus on the painting itself, not just what it showed. He wanted viewers to see the colors and shapes first. Baselitz was inspired by many things, like old art styles and African sculptures. He created a unique way of making art.
He was born Hans-Georg Bruno Kern in Deutschbaselitz, Germany. He grew up during World War II, a time of much destruction. This experience deeply influenced his art. He once said he wanted to question everything and start fresh. This idea of challenging normal ways of seeing things became a key part of his artistic journey. He continued to paint upside-down images throughout his life. This became a very special part of his work.
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The Life of Georg Baselitz
Georg Baselitz was born on January 23, 1938. His hometown was Deutschbaselitz, which is now part of Kamenz, Germany. His father was a school teacher. Georg's family lived in the school building.
He went to school in Kamenz. There, he saw a painting called Wermsdorfer Wald by Louis-Ferdinand von Rayski. This realistic painting helped shape Georg's early art ideas. By age 15, he was already painting many types of art. These included portraits, religious scenes, and landscapes.
In 1955, he tried to get into an art school in Dresden but was not accepted. The next year, he got into an art school in East Berlin. But after two semesters, he was asked to leave. The school said his ideas did not fit with the government's socialist views.
In 1957, he moved to West Berlin and continued his art studies. There, he met Johanna Elke Kretzschmar, who later became his wife. He finished his studies in 1962. During this time, he learned about the ideas of famous artists like Wassily Kandinsky. He also made friends with other artists.
In 1961, he chose the name Georg Baselitz. This was a way to honor his hometown.
Georg and his wife lived in Salzburg, Austria, starting in 2013. They both became Austrian citizens in 2015. He married Johanna in 1962. They had two sons, Daniel Blau and Anton Kern, who both became art gallery owners.
Georg Baselitz passed away on April 30, 2026, when he was 88 years old.
Georg Baselitz's Artworks
Early Art (1957–1969)
Around 1959, Baselitz started creating his own unique art style. Some of his first works included the Rayski-Head series.
In 1963, Baselitz had his first art show in West Berlin. Some people found his art very unusual and even shocking for the time.
In 1964, Baselitz began making etchings. This type of art became an important part of his work. The next year, he won a scholarship to study in Florence, Italy. There, he studied older art styles and created his Animal Piece pictures. Baselitz found inspiration from many artists and writers, including Edvard Munch.
Heroes and Fractures Series
After returning from Florence, Baselitz created his Heroes series between 1965 and 1966. These large paintings showed figures that looked broken and worn out. They represented people who were trying to move past the difficult times of World War II and its aftermath. These "heroes" often appeared alone in empty landscapes. They sometimes had features that reminded Baselitz of his own childhood. By 1969, he also made Fracture Pictures, like Woodsmen.
Upside-Down Paintings
Building on his Fracture Pictures, Baselitz took inspiration from a painting he remembered from his childhood school. In 1969, he painted his first upside-down picture, called The Wood on Its Head. By turning his subjects upside down, Baselitz wanted viewers to focus on the colors and shapes of the painting. He wanted them to see the artwork as an object itself, rather than just a story or a scene. He felt these paintings were not meant to be "interpreted" in the usual way.
In 2020, Baselitz's family gave six of his upside-down paintings to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. One of these was his first painting of his wife, Elke. The museum showed these works in an exhibition in 2021.
Art from 1970–1975
During the 1970s, Baselitz often showed his art in Munich. Many of his works from this time were landscapes. In 1970, the Kunstmuseum Basel held the first big show of his drawings. In 1971, Baselitz and his family moved to Forst an der Weinstraße. He used an old school as his studio and started painting birds.
He showed his art in many places in Germany. He also took part in a big art show called documenta 5 in 1972. His work there again received strong reactions. That same year, he started using a fingerpainting technique. He painted landscapes until 1975. In 1975, his family moved to Derneburg. He also visited New York and Brazil for art events.
Art from 1976–1980
In 1976, Baselitz rented a studio in Florence, Italy, which he used for several years. In 1977, he began making large linocut prints. He also started teaching art at the Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe in 1977, becoming a professor in 1978.
From 1978 to 1980, he created diptychs (paintings made of two parts) and other large works. These included The Gleaner and Eagle. His art during this time became more abstract, focusing on shapes and lines. In 1980, he showed a sculpture for the first time at the Venice Biennale.
Art from 1981–1989
In 1981, Baselitz opened another studio in Italy. His art was shown in New York for the first time that year. By 1982, he started spending more time on sculpture. In 1983, he began using Christian themes in his art. He also became a professor at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin.
In 1986, the city of Goslar gave him the Goslarer Kaiserring award for his art. His work was shown often in Germany throughout the 1980s. In 1989, the French government honored him with the title Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
Art from 1990–2009
In 1990, the first major exhibition of Baselitz's art in East Germany took place in Berlin. In 1993, he designed the stage set for an opera. He also showed a sculpture called Male Torso at the Venice Biennale. In 1994, Baselitz designed a stamp for the French postal service.
In 1995, a large show of his work traveled across the U.S., including to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. His art was shown frequently in Europe during the 1990s. In 2002, a show of his work was held in Istanbul.
During this period, Baselitz lived and worked in different places, including near Hildesheim and Munich in Germany, and in Imperia, Italy. His art was also shown in London in 2007 and 2009.
Art from 2014–2026
Baselitz was a very active artist. He created a series of quiet portraits of himself and his wife, Elke. These paintings used dark blue and black colors. They showed his thoughts about life and getting older.
For Baselitz's 80th birthday in 2018, several museums held special shows of his art. These included the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. The Hirshhorn's show featured over 100 works from six decades of his career.
In 2019, an exhibition called Devotion was held in New York. It featured paintings and drawings inspired by self-portraits of artists he admired. That same year, a large show of his work was held in Venice. It was the first time a living artist had a show in that museum gallery.
In October 2021, a major show of Baselitz's art opened at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. It included paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints.
Baselitz's Artistic Style
In the 1970s, Georg Baselitz became famous for his upside-down images. He was seen as a groundbreaking painter. He made viewers think and sparked their interest. The subjects of his paintings seemed less important than the way the art looked.
After the 1970s, Baselitz changed his style. He experimented with different ways of applying paint. From the 1990s onward, he focused on clearer lines and smoother changes in his art. In his later years, he often revisited and changed his earlier works. This showed his thoughtful approach to his own art.
Art Market Success
Georg Baselitz's highest selling painting is Mit Roter Fahne (With Red Flag) from 1965. It sold for about £7.47 million (or about US$9.1 million) in London in 2017.
His highest selling sculpture is Dresdner Frauen – Besuch aus Prag (Women of Dresden – Visit from Prague) from 1990. This sculpture, made of tempera on ash wood, sold for $11.24 million in New York City in 2022.
Awards and Honors
- 1965: Villa Romana Prize
- 1968: ars viva prize of the Cultural Committee of German Business
- 1984–92: Member of the Academy of the Arts, Berlin
- 1986: Goslarer Kaiserring
- 1987: Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
- 1992: Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
- 1999: Honorary member at the Royal Academy of Arts, London
- 1999: Art Prize Rhenus Mönchengladbach
- 2000: Honorary professor at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts, Kraków
- 2001: Julio González Prize Valencia
- 2002: Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
- 2003: Lower Saxony State Prize
- 2004: Praemium Imperiale
- 2004: Honorary Professor at the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno in Florence
- 2005: Austrian Decoration for Science and Art
- 2006: Honorary Citizen of the city of Imperia
- 2008: B.Z. Culture Prize
- 2009–21: Full member of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts
- 2009: Cologne-Fine-Art Award of the Association of German Galleries and Editions
- 2012: Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur
- 2019: Foreign associate member Académie des Beaux-Arts
See also
In Spanish: Georg Baselitz para niños
- List of German painters
