Untitled

Georg Baselitz

2015 · Diptych; ink on paper · Modern and Contemporary Art

A pioneering figure of Neo-Expressionism in the 1980s, Georg Baselitz remains one of the major proponents of figuration in contemporary art. In this diptych—part of a larger series of ink and watercolor drawings referred to as "Visit from Hokusai"—Baselitz interprets a self-portrait drawn by the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) on the right, while he interprets his own earlier image of a bent-over human-like figure with a tail on the left. Like Hokusai at the time of his self-portrait, Baselitz made these drawings when he was in his eighties, perhaps as a reflection on his own legacy: by using animated lines and playing with the distinction between figure and ground, he draws our attention to the process and language of drawing, and also its expressive capacities, which has been a hallmark of his long career.

Artist

Georg Baselitz

Date

2015

Medium

Diptych; ink on paper

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

Gift of the artist, 2016