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Adler (15. XI)
Adler

Georg Baselitz

Adler (15. XI)

1981
Oil, gouache, graphite and frottage
27 1/2 x 18 5/8 inches (69,9 x 47,3 cm)


Since 1972, Baselitz has had his eagles fall headfirst from the sky like Icarus: He is familiar with Rembrandt's 1635 interpretation of "Ganymede" which can be admired in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden. It is therefore logical to assume that the choice of his most characteristic motif is also rooted in his biography. At just 15 years old, Hans-Georg Kern, as he was then known, painted two eagles flying over the mountains.
The intuitive and uninhibited "Fest der Malerei" (Feast of Painting) can be traced particularly closely and vividly in Baselitz's works on paper. Our beautiful example, "Eagle," is placed on the striking, deep red ground; there's no reason to display the mighty wings; the paint takes over this statement. The gouache is forcefully rubbed onto the paper, revealing dynamic details, scratched with graphite into the color area and the eagle, the contours hastily drawn in black. Baselitz is not concerned with the external image of the bird of prey, but with the image of an idea of ​​it.

Georg Baselitz

Adler

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


At just 15 years old, Hans-Georg Kern, as he was still called at the time, painted two eagles flying over the mountains. In our "Eagle (5. VIII)" from 1977, the focus is on the act of painting; the grayish, seemingly random blurring below and beside the eagle, as well as the black brushstrokes in the lower right area of ​​the sheet, merely serve to emphasize the composition.
The motif of the eagle receives special attention with its brief white highlights, for example, hinting at the plumage. But as quickly as one thinks one has grasped the specific motif, it disappears, like a picture puzzle, behind the wild and impetuous painting.

Über Georg Baselitz

Born: 1938 in Deutschbaselitz, Sachsen
Lives and works in