Georg Baselitz is one of the outstanding German painters living today. His brand of figurative painting combines contemporary art with expressionism and has been highly influential for following generations of artists. With his work the artist formulates a position directed against the aesthetic ideal; it can be seen as a critique of established categories and regularities. In 1970 the artist first showed works in which he had painted the motif upside down. Thereby the emphasis was directed away from the motif and towards the formal language of painting.
Baselitz has received numerous awards, the Goslar Award for Modern Art (Kaiserring) and the Praemium Imperiale, among others.
