Georg Baselitz
Germany b.1938
Im Wald (In the forest) 1990
Oil on canvas
290 x 260cm
Purchased 1992 with funds from the 1991 International Exhibitions Program
Collection: Queensland Art Gallery
© Georg Baselitz
Georg Baselitz
Im Wald (In the forest) 1990
Georg Baselitz was born Hans-Georg Kern in Deutschbaselitz, a town that would become part of East Germany after World War Two. In 1956, he commenced art school in East Berlin but was soon expelled and relocated to West Berlin, where he changed his name to Baselitz (after his birthplace) and completed his studies.
In his early work, Baselitz searched for an alternative to the predominant art movements of the time and became interested in the art of the mentally ill. He was also influenced by abstract expressionist painters such as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning.
Through the 1960s and 1970s Baselitz developed a distinctive physical expressionist style, which came to be a major influence on the Neo-Expressionist movement of the 1980s.
In Im Wald (In the forest) 1990, the artist makes gestures which seem primal, pointing to his interest in ancient forms of ritualistic art such as cave painting. The title refers to the importance of the forest in German mythology and art.
