Lot Essay
Baselitz's paintings are not only influenced by the rich tradition of German Expressionism, but also by his early admiration for the freedom of the American Abstract Expressionists. His bold, vigorous style of brushwork was clearly inspired by such precedents, and the technique he developed of inverting his subject-matter, which became a constant in his work from 1969, compelled the viewer to concentrate on the actual painterly values, rather than on narrative content.
The painting, "Die Berghütte - Ernst Ludwig" clearly reflects Baselitz's unconventional approach, wherein the heavy paintwork, combined with almost abstract, inverted subject-matter create striking pictorial constuctions.
Andreas Franzke notes how "From 1986 Baselitz executed a number of portraits of fellow painters. The present generation was represented by A.R. Penck, Per Kirkeby, Jörg Immendorf, and Markus Lüpertz" while the past was represented by "members of the Expressionist generation, such as Edvard Munch, Richard Gerstl, Emil Nolde and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Otto Müller, Kurt Schwitters, Otto Dix... All are represented as female figures with bare breasts and intense yellow hair, there is a particular emphasis on the outsized, clumsy, dislocated-looking feet.
The 'Heroes' or 'New Types' of the 1960's had occasionally been shown as if bursting through walls; these 'Painter-Friends' are similarly positioned on the canvas in such a way as to dominate the scene with a strong, even rhetorical presence in spite of their puny bodies. Within a field that positively surges with Baselitz's superabundant energy, they possess an unequivocal, self-reliant stature." (Andreas Franzke, Georg Baselitz, Munich 1989, pp. 234-5.)
"Die Berghütte - Ernst Ludwig" clearly belongs to this series of works. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner went to Switzerland after the First World War, and there painted striking Alpine landscapes and scenes from within the mountain cabins he inhabited. The title and composition of this piece obviously makes reference to this. The composition bears the mark of Baselitz's mature style, with its aggressive brushwork and bold, concentrated palette. The paint is applied discordantly so as to undermine the actual proportions of the central figure, and yet its thick texture adds a weightiness of form, emphasised by its black outlines. The irregular network of lines which surrounds the central figure is another prominent feature of Baselitz's oeuvre from the Eighties. Here it creates the effect of a walled background, punctuated by bright blue arches what we might presume to be the Alpine skyline.
Inevitably one can draw parallels between the rough paint surface of such compositions and Baselitz's rough-hewn wooden sculptures which date from the same period. The grid network of lines resurface in the sculptures also, as jagged see-saw cuts of latitude and longitude across each figure. Doubtless, the expressive sculptures of these years contributed to the monumental forms conjured in his canvases of this time.
The painting, "Die Berghütte - Ernst Ludwig" clearly reflects Baselitz's unconventional approach, wherein the heavy paintwork, combined with almost abstract, inverted subject-matter create striking pictorial constuctions.
Andreas Franzke notes how "From 1986 Baselitz executed a number of portraits of fellow painters. The present generation was represented by A.R. Penck, Per Kirkeby, Jörg Immendorf, and Markus Lüpertz" while the past was represented by "members of the Expressionist generation, such as Edvard Munch, Richard Gerstl, Emil Nolde and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Otto Müller, Kurt Schwitters, Otto Dix... All are represented as female figures with bare breasts and intense yellow hair, there is a particular emphasis on the outsized, clumsy, dislocated-looking feet.
The 'Heroes' or 'New Types' of the 1960's had occasionally been shown as if bursting through walls; these 'Painter-Friends' are similarly positioned on the canvas in such a way as to dominate the scene with a strong, even rhetorical presence in spite of their puny bodies. Within a field that positively surges with Baselitz's superabundant energy, they possess an unequivocal, self-reliant stature." (Andreas Franzke, Georg Baselitz, Munich 1989, pp. 234-5.)
"Die Berghütte - Ernst Ludwig" clearly belongs to this series of works. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner went to Switzerland after the First World War, and there painted striking Alpine landscapes and scenes from within the mountain cabins he inhabited. The title and composition of this piece obviously makes reference to this. The composition bears the mark of Baselitz's mature style, with its aggressive brushwork and bold, concentrated palette. The paint is applied discordantly so as to undermine the actual proportions of the central figure, and yet its thick texture adds a weightiness of form, emphasised by its black outlines. The irregular network of lines which surrounds the central figure is another prominent feature of Baselitz's oeuvre from the Eighties. Here it creates the effect of a walled background, punctuated by bright blue arches what we might presume to be the Alpine skyline.
Inevitably one can draw parallels between the rough paint surface of such compositions and Baselitz's rough-hewn wooden sculptures which date from the same period. The grid network of lines resurface in the sculptures also, as jagged see-saw cuts of latitude and longitude across each figure. Doubtless, the expressive sculptures of these years contributed to the monumental forms conjured in his canvases of this time.