art
Georg Baselitz review
White Cube Bermondsey, LondonA body falls through the sky, figures flail and thrash, while sagging skin and brittle limbs are scrawled on every work. This is the German painter’s last collection – and it’s both brutal and beautiful
TL;DR
- Georg Baselitz's final body of work was created as he was dying.
- The paintings and drawings reflect his awareness of his impending death, exploring themes of life, mortality, and the end of existence.
- Baselitz created these works from a wheeled office chair due to his failing health, with canvases on the floor.
- The figures in the work often represent himself and his wife, Elke, depicted with sagging skin and brittle limbs.
- The collection includes imagery of falling bodies, figures flailing and thrashing, and insectile forms, symbolizing panic and struggle against death.
- Golden canvases depict fragile, papery thin figures, which he saw as canonizing himself and Elke like Byzantine icons.
- Eagles, a recurring symbol in his work, appear as frantic symbols of his youth in postwar Germany.
- Baselitz stated the collection was an attempt to draw a conclusion on his life's work, incorporating touchstones from his career.