Georg Baselitz

Georg Baselitz (born Hans-Georg Bruno Kern; 23 January 1938 – 30 April 2026) was a German-Austrian painter, sculptor and graphic artist. In the 1960s he became well known for his figurative, expressive paintings. In 1969 he began painting his subjects upside down in an effort to overcome the representational, content-driven character of his earlier work and stress the artifice of painting, which would become a defining feature of his later work. Drawing from myriad influences, including Socialist Realism, Mannerism, and African sculpture, he developed his own, distinct artistic language.

Baselitz was born in Deutschbaselitz, Upper Lusatia, Germany. He grew up in the desolation and ruin of post-World War II East Germany, circumstances which informed his future work. After being rejected by East German artistic authorities for his experimental style, Baselitz moved to West Berlin in the early 1960s, where his paintings caused public scandal for their obscenity. This initial controversy jump-started his career in the west, which expanded from painting to printmaking, sculpture, and scenic design. Baselitz's oeuvre is defined by his rejection of order and challenging of conventional forms of perception. His work was well-received by critics and performed well at auction, but he gained a reputation for his outspokenness, particularly with regard to women artists.