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Lot Essay
Die poetische Kugel (The Poetic Sphere) is one of the most powerful images from Georg Baselitz's famed Pandemonium series, and reflects the influence of his Pandemonic Manifesto of 1961, written in response to the various political and artistic crises in Post-War Germany. In keeping with his concepts of chaos and artistic anarchy, Baselitz felt a keen affinity towards other artists considered "outsiders", such as the poet Antonin Artaud and the painter Vincent van Gogh. Such influences are clearly visible in Die poetische Kugel, in addition to the influence of the art of the insane.
Die poetische Kugel is comprised of a limited palette of colours applied in highly fluid strokes, as if the artist was "deliberately caricaturing the methods of Art Informel by applying them to a representational subject." (A. Franzke, Georg Baselitz, Munich 1989, p. 17.)
The floating spheric forms recall not only Jean Fautrier's Otages, but also the floating eyes and heads found in the Symbolist works of Gustave Moreau. Like Baselitz, Moreau's art conveys a feeling of melancholy and an attempt to find refuge in literature and poetry. With their human features and provileged position, Baselitz seems to be endowing his spheres with the mystical vision of poets and artists, who not only witness poetic visions of beauty, but also experience profound madness and pain.
Die poetische Kugel is comprised of a limited palette of colours applied in highly fluid strokes, as if the artist was "deliberately caricaturing the methods of Art Informel by applying them to a representational subject." (A. Franzke, Georg Baselitz, Munich 1989, p. 17.)
The floating spheric forms recall not only Jean Fautrier's Otages, but also the floating eyes and heads found in the Symbolist works of Gustave Moreau. Like Baselitz, Moreau's art conveys a feeling of melancholy and an attempt to find refuge in literature and poetry. With their human features and provileged position, Baselitz seems to be endowing his spheres with the mystical vision of poets and artists, who not only witness poetic visions of beauty, but also experience profound madness and pain.