Georg Baselitz pays homage to fellow artists, from Mondrian to Warhol, in new exhibition
Georg Baselitz believes every work of art is a self-portrait. Whether it’s a Mondrian colour puzzle or a Warhol printed tin, what we are looking at – and, Baselitz suggests, the subject we are really interested in – is the artist.
Some time ago, the German neo-expressionist, known for the upside down figures he has painted since the end of the 1960s, was visiting the Kunstmuseum in Basel. It was there he came across Henri Rousseau’s painting of the artist Marie Laurencin, muse to the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, both clad in dark clothing and standing in a garden, pink flowers at their feet. Despite the title of the 1909 painting (The Muse Inspires the Poet), Baselitz took the portrait to be a self-portrait of Rousseau and his wife.
This interpretation of the painting – Baselitz wasn’t entirely wrong in seeing Rousseau’s sense of himself projected in the portrait – inspired a whole new direction in Baselitz’s work, about to go on show at Gagosian in New York. In this new body of work, Baselitz turns the heads of major artists on their heads (Mondrian and Warhol included) from a long line of famous American abstract expressionists, to artists more directly engaged with self-portraiture, such as Tracey Emin and Paula Modersohn-Becker.
The artist titles the exhibition ‘Devotion’, paying homage to the figures he portrays because he says, they are ‘especially meaningful to me’. Each of these portraits becomes, connected by Baselitz’s gaze and hand, a rumination on the artist and their work, both abstract and figurative, outward looking and self-reflexive. Willem de Kooning is drawn in classical, sober pose in charcoal; Philip Guston becomes a pale, pensive pink, not unlike the colour he often applied in his own work; while Rothko is rendered in a nervous, sad blue.
Baselitz was born in 1938 and his career began in the context of a postwar Germany searching for a sense of identity in the aftermath of genocide. Painting figures has sometimes been a difficult, painful exercise for an artist coming to terms with the horrors of egoism. Does this make all art narcissistic? Probably. But as Baselitz shows us through these self-portraits as others, self-enquiry can be a rough road.
In May 2019, coinciding with the Venice Biennale, a major Georg Baselitz survey curated by Kosme de Barañano will open at the Gallerie dell’Accademia – the first exhibition by a living artist to be staged at the museum.
INFORMATION
‘Devotion’ is on view from 24 January – 16 March. For more information, visit the Gagosian website
ADDRESS
Gagosian
555 West 24th Street
New York
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Charlotte Jansen is a journalist and the author of two books on photography, Girl on Girl (2017) and Photography Now (2021). She is commissioning editor at Elephant magazine and has written on contemporary art and culture for The Guardian, the Financial Times, ELLE, the British Journal of Photography, Frieze and Artsy. Jansen is also presenter of Dior Talks podcast series, The Female Gaze.
-
Molly Goddard on creating a community of contemporary brides
As new Molly Goddard bridal wear is released, the designer talks about creating romantic but real wedding dresses, while three recent brides tell the stories behind their own Goddard gowns
By Jack Moss Published
-
Palazzo Roma embodies the heritage of Roman noblesse
Palazzo Roma, part of the Shedir Collection, boasts eclectic and eccentric interiors by Giampiero Panepinto
By Luke Abrahams Published
-
Boise Passive House’s bold gestures support an environmentally friendly design
Boise Passive House by Haas Architecture combines sleek, contemporary design and environmental efficiency
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
‘Accordian Fields’ at Lisson Gallery unites painters inspired by London
‘Accordian Fields’ at Lisson Gallery is a group show looking at painting linked to London
By Amah-Rose Abrams Published
-
‘LA Gun Club’: artist Jane Hilton on who’s shooting who
‘LA Gun Club’, an exhibition by Jane Hilton at New York’s Palo Gallery, explores American gun culture through a study of targets and shooters
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Detroit Institute of Arts celebrates Black cinema
‘Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971’ at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) brings lost or forgotten films, filmmakers and performers to a contemporary audience
By Anne Soward Published
-
BLUM marks 30 years of Japanese contemporary art in America
BLUM will take ‘Thirty Years: Written with a Splash of Blood’ to its New York space in September 2024, continuing its celebration of Japanese contemporary art in America
By Timothy Anscombe-Bell Published
-
Todd Gray’s sculptural photography collages defy dimension, linearity and narrative
In Todd Gray’s New York exhibition, he revisits his 40-year archive, fragmented into elaborated frames that open doors for new readings
By Osman Can Yerebakan Published
-
Frieze LA 2024 guide: the art, gossip and buzz
Our Frieze LA 2024 guide includes everything you need to know and see in and around the fair
By Renée Reizman Published
-
New York artist Christopher Astley showcases an alternative natural world
At Martos Gallery in New York, Christopher Astley’s paintings evoke an alternative natural world and the chaos of warfare (until 16 March 2024)
By Tianna Williams Published
-
The Whitney plots Harold Cohen’s artistic AI adventures
‘Harold Cohen: AARON’, at the Whitney Museum of American Art celebrates the artist’s software – the earliest AI program for artmaking – as an artwork in its own right
By Hannah Silver Published