Adler
Adler
Ohne Titel (Adler VII)

Georg Baselitz

Adler

1977
Gouache and ink on velin
17 5/8 x 14 1/8 inches (44,7 x 35,7 cm)


Since 1972, Baselitz lets his eagles plunge headfirst from the sky like Icarus: he knows Rembrandt's wonderfully cheeky interpretation of “Ganymede in the Clutches of the Eagle” from 1635, which can be admired in the Old Masters Picture Gallery in Dresden. And so it is reasonable to assume that the choice of his most characteristic motif is probably also rooted in his biography. At the age of 15, Hans-Georg Kern, as he was then known, painted two eagles flying over the mountains. “The importance that Baselitz attached to this early work, which he created while still a pupil, is shown by the fact that he returned to it again and again over the decades.” Curator Andreas Zimmermann explains in the exhibition catalog “Naked Masters”.
The intuitive and uninhibited “celebration of painting” can be traced particularly closely and vividly in Baselitz's works on paper: in our “Eagle (5. VIII)” from 1977, the focus is even more closely on the act of painting; the grayish, seemingly arbitrary smudges under and next to the eagle, as well as the black brushstrokes in the lower right-hand area of the sheet, merely serve to emphasize the composition. This motif of the eagle even receives special attention with fleeting white elevations; plumage is hinted at. But as quickly as we think we have caught sight of the actual motif, it disappears behind the wild and impetuous painting, like a picture puzzle.

Georg Baselitz

Adler

1981
Öl, Gouache, Graphit und Frottage
27 1/2 x 18 5/8 inches (69,9 x 47,3 cm)


Georg Baselitz

Ohne Titel (Adler VII)

1981
Watercolour on paper
24 1/8 x 17 1/8 inches (61 x 43,3 cm)


Since 1972, Baselitz lets his eagles plunge headfirst from the sky like Icarus: he knows Rembrandt's wonderfully cheeky interpretation of “Ganymede in the Clutches of the Eagle” from 1635, which can be admired in the Old Masters Picture Gallery in Dresden. And so it is reasonable to assume that the choice of his most characteristic motif is probably also rooted in his biography. At the age of 15, Hans-Georg Kern, as he was then known, painted two eagles flying over the mountains. “The importance that Baselitz attached to this early work, which he created while still a pupil, is shown by the fact that he returned to it again and again over the decades.” Curator Andreas Zimmermann explains in the exhibition catalog “Naked Masters”.
The intuitive and uninhibited “celebration of painting” can be traced particularly closely and vividly in Baselitz's works on paper: our beautiful example is inconspicuous at first glance! No colors jostle for attention, as this watercolor is kept entirely in gray and black. The motif is also restrained, only the head of an eagle visible in this painting. And this is precisely the appeal of this work “Untitled (Eagle VII)” from 1981, which is reminiscent of the head studies by Rubens or van Dyck in its reduction to the essentials, the expression and the posture. Thrown masterfully onto the sheet with an adept gesture in a few rough-looking strokes, one might think one recognizes the pictorial tradition, only to see and understand once again that the world is turned upside down.

Über Georg Baselitz

Born: 1938 in Deutschbaselitz, Sachsen
Lives and works in