Georg Baselitz

Galerie Michael Werner, Cologne
Galeri Laage-Salomon, Paris
Private Collection, Stuttgart
Galerie Zwirner, Cologne
Galeria Sprovieri, Milan  
Springer & Winckler, Frankfurt
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in 1992

Bologna, Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Georg Baselitz, 1997

Exhibition Catalogue, Bremen, Kunsthalle, George Baselitz: Das Motiv, 1988, no.6, p. 14, illustrated in colour
Danilo Eccher, Baselitz, Milan 1997, p. 89, illustrated in colour; p. 95, illustrated
Edward Quinn, Georg Baselitz, Wabern-Bern 1993, pp. 122, 123 (twice), 125 & 126, illustrated in colour

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the overall tonality is significantly richer and more vibrant in the original work where the tonality of the body tends more towards vermilion, the blue tends more towards electric blue and the pink more towards a vibrant bubblegum pink. Condition: This work is in very good condition. There is a superficial layer of dust in places throughout the surface. There is very light wear to all four corner tips and some faint discolouration to the white patch of canvas on the top edge approximately 40cm in from the upper left corner. There is a faint rub mark to the extreme right hand edge approximately 25cm below the upper right corner. Upon close inspection there is a tiny stable hairline crack to the pink impasto spot of paint to the immediate left of the figure's left eye. No restoration is apparent when examined under ultra-violet light.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The idea of the gesture, both his own in the act of painting and that of the simple inversion of the image, is crucial to Baselitz's work. The latter in particular is always enigmatic and intentionally cloaked in semiotic subtlety. It dislocates the image from concise representation so that the process of understanding is slowed down and dismatled into its individual components of colour, line and expression. Maler Mit Fragment illustrates this point immaculately; both through the imposition of the grid structure over the semi-autobiographical figure and through the dense expressionistic intensity of the execution. The wrenching and poignant honesty of this self-examination lends the painting an irresistible power that operates not simply upon the representational level but also upon the line at which conscious and subconscious understanding begins.

The immediacy of Baselitz's overtly expressive figures is thus made uncanny by the simple fact of their inversion. During this moment of confusion there is an infinitesimal pause as the brain stops to assimilate its initial dim recognition and in this gap between reality and this image of reality, the artist is able to articulate his aspirations for art in general alongside his personal aesthetic concerns: "The mind, as a catalyst, can process things that come from the outside. You look into the landscape and make it into a picture. But the reverse can also happen. [...] The imagination spreads like the spores of a trodden puffball. This concept of painting is not unpleasant. I think that's how it is." (The artist quoted in Danilo Eccher, Baselitz,  Milan 1997, p. 45)