Baselitz, Georg

Baselitz, Georg

(gāôrkh` bä`zəlĭts'), 1938–, German artist, b. Deutschbaselitz, Germany, as Hans-Georg Dern. A leading figure in the neoexpressionist movement (see neoexpressionismneoexpressionism,
term given to an international art movement, mainly in painting, that began in the 1960s and 1970s, was a dominant mode in the 1980s, and has continued into the 1990s.
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), he studied painting (1956–57) in East Berlin and moved to West Berlin in 1957. Since his first one-man exhibition (1961), he has become one of Germany's most prolific and best-known artists. His images are painted with a slashing intensity reminiscent of both German expressionismexpressionism,
term used to describe works of art and literature in which the representation of reality is distorted to communicate an inner vision. The expressionist transforms nature rather than imitates it.
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 and abstract expressionismabstract expressionism,
movement of abstract painting that emerged in New York City during the mid-1940s and attained singular prominence in American art in the following decade; also called action painting and the New York school.
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. Crudely drawn, aggressive, and frequently disturbing, his works incorporate semi-abstract human figures, animals, and landscape elements. These images are often painted upside down to empty them of literal meaning and usually project a sense of hostility or isolation. Baselitz is also a sculptor and printmaker. His work is included in many major European and American museum collections.