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拍品专文
'Sterne im Fenster' (Stars in the Window) is from a group of works Baselitz painted in the summer of 1982 for the historic 'Zeitgeist' exhibition in the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin that same year. This exhibition was not only responsible for a renewed interest in figurative painting, but also in many ways ushered in a new era of block-buster exhibitions throughout Europe. Baselitz's 'Zeitgeist Paintings', as they are now often called, were first viewed at this momentous exhibition. Placed in a spiritual context, the paintings were installed above the viewers' heads in a manner resembling stain glass windows in a church.
"In 1969, Baselitz took the decisive step, which was to govern all his subsequent work with the exception of the sculptures, and adopted the inverted subject technique as a consistent principle. By doing so he compelled the viewer to pay attention not only to the content - the theme to a much more difficult method of representation. He had to capture in the mind's eye an inverted image of reality.
"This concentration on technique, and on the act of painting, is reinforced by the way in which Baselitz chooses to present his motif - banal in themselves, but popular among artists - with a positively unprofessional freshness of vision. Not only are they upside-down, but in their laconic randomness they offer few if any points of contact with the corresponding subjects in traditional art: they are too unofficial in the way they are perceived, too oblivious of historical contexts." (A. Franzke, 'Georg Baselitz', Munich, 1989, p.112)
'Stern im Himmel' is an exceptional example of the inverted subject, depicting an upside-down room with a window and a male figure peering out at the night sky. Since the late 50s, Baselitz had been greatly influenced by the American Abstract Expressionists. Here, Baselitz twists the male figure, forcing his back and face to confront the viewer simultaneously and thus echoing the post-cubist style of Willem De Kooning. The man is isolated, literally trapped in the corner. But, in the end, the real subject here is not the figure, but rather the painting itself - the surface, materials, the brushstroke. By inverting the figure, Baselitz forces the viewer away from the predominance of the figure, from any psychological reading of an individual, and from the traditional mode of reading a figurative painting. Instead, the viewer is confronted by powerful brushstrokes and patches of brilliant colour that animate the canvas. The emotional tenor is one of drama, of action; the impact is more immediate and visceral. As in the paintings of de Kooning and Philip Guston (whose work he had seen in exhibition while a student in Berlin in the 50s), Baselitz's retention of a figurative image adds another dimension to its work, heightening the dramatic tension and the shock to the viewer's psyche.
"In 1969, Baselitz took the decisive step, which was to govern all his subsequent work with the exception of the sculptures, and adopted the inverted subject technique as a consistent principle. By doing so he compelled the viewer to pay attention not only to the content - the theme to a much more difficult method of representation. He had to capture in the mind's eye an inverted image of reality.
"This concentration on technique, and on the act of painting, is reinforced by the way in which Baselitz chooses to present his motif - banal in themselves, but popular among artists - with a positively unprofessional freshness of vision. Not only are they upside-down, but in their laconic randomness they offer few if any points of contact with the corresponding subjects in traditional art: they are too unofficial in the way they are perceived, too oblivious of historical contexts." (A. Franzke, 'Georg Baselitz', Munich, 1989, p.112)
'Stern im Himmel' is an exceptional example of the inverted subject, depicting an upside-down room with a window and a male figure peering out at the night sky. Since the late 50s, Baselitz had been greatly influenced by the American Abstract Expressionists. Here, Baselitz twists the male figure, forcing his back and face to confront the viewer simultaneously and thus echoing the post-cubist style of Willem De Kooning. The man is isolated, literally trapped in the corner. But, in the end, the real subject here is not the figure, but rather the painting itself - the surface, materials, the brushstroke. By inverting the figure, Baselitz forces the viewer away from the predominance of the figure, from any psychological reading of an individual, and from the traditional mode of reading a figurative painting. Instead, the viewer is confronted by powerful brushstrokes and patches of brilliant colour that animate the canvas. The emotional tenor is one of drama, of action; the impact is more immediate and visceral. As in the paintings of de Kooning and Philip Guston (whose work he had seen in exhibition while a student in Berlin in the 50s), Baselitz's retention of a figurative image adds another dimension to its work, heightening the dramatic tension and the shock to the viewer's psyche.