BASELITZ, Georg
1938
Born 23rd January in Deutschbaselitz in Saxony, Germany, and given the name Hans-Georg Bruno Kern.
1956
Admitted to the Hochschule für bildende und angewandte Kunst, East Berlin, where he studies painting with Walter Womacka and Herbert Behrens-Hangeler.
1957
Obliged to leave after two terms because of “political immaturity”. Continues studies with Hann Trier at the Hochschule für bildende Künste, West Berlin, graduating from the masterclass in 1963.
1960
Paints the so-called “Rayski” portraits, the first “official” works.
1961
Adopts the artist’s name Georg Baselitz, after his birthplace.
Exhibition with Eugen Schönebeck in Berlin-Charlottenburg, “1. Pandämonium”, accompanied by a manifesto of the same title.
1962
Marries Elke Kretzschmar and their son Daniel is born.
1963
First solo exhibition, at Galerie Werner & Katz, Berlin, immediately causes a scandal. Of the works exhibited, The Big Night Down the Drain (1962/63) and The Naked Man (1962) are confiscated by the State Prosecution Service; the ensuing trial does not end until 1965, when the pictures are returned.
1964
Michael Werner shows in the 1st Orthodox Salon at his Berlin gallery the painting Oberon.
“Ölbilder, Gouachen, Zeichnungen 1959–64”, exhibition at Freie Galerie, Berlin.
The Galerie Michael Werner, Berlin exhibits the etchings realized in spring in Wolfsburg.
1965
Scholarship to Villa Romana, Florence.
Solo exhibition at Galerie Friedrich & Dahlem, Munich.
Works on the series of “Hero” paintings in Berlin until 1966.
1966
Solo exhibition “Why the painting ‘The Great Friends’ is a good picture!” at Galerie Rudolf Springer, Berlin, accompanied by a manifesto of the same title.
Son Anton is born and the family moves to Osthofen near Worms in Rhineland-Palatinate.
1968
Grant from the Kulturkreis im Bundesverband der deutschen Industrie.
1969
Begins to work with inverted motifs: one of the first paintings is The Wood on its Head.
1970
Museum debut with an exhibition of drawings in the Kupferstichkabinett at Kunstmuseum Basel.
First exhibition of pictures with inverted motifs presented by Franz Dahlem, Galeriehaus in Lindenstraße, Cologne.
1971
Moves to Forst an der Weinstraße in Rhineland-Palatinate.
1972
Participates in documenta 5, Kassel.
Sets up studio in Musbach in Baden-Württemberg.
1975
Participates in the 13th São Paulo Biennale.
Moves to Derneburg near Hildesheim in Lower Saxony.
1976
Retrospectives at Kunsthalle Bern, Staatsgalerie Moderner Kunst, Munich and Kunsthalle Köln, Cologne.
Sets up additional studio in Florence until 1981.
1977
Engaged by the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Karlsruhe.
Withdraws his pictures from documenta 6, Kassel, as a reaction against the participation of “official representative GDR painters”.
1979
"Schilderijen 1977 - 1978" exhibition at Van Abbemuseum Eindhoven.
Gives the lecture “Four walls and skylight, or rather no picture on the wall at all” at the architecture convention in Dortmund.
1980
Exhibits Model for a Sculpture in the German pavilion at the 39th Venice Biennale.
1981
Participates in “A New Spirit in Painting”, Royal Academy of Arts, London and “Westkunst”, Messehalle, Cologne.
Works on the series of “Orange Eater”.
Sets up additional studio in Castiglion Fiorentino near Arezzo, Italy, until 1987.
First exhibition in New York at Xavier Fourcade.
1982
Participates in documenta 7, Kassel and “Zeitgeist-Internationale Kunstausstellung”, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin.
1983
Participates in “Expressions: New Art from Germany”, Saint Louis Art Museum, which tours the USA.
Retrospective at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, touring to the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam and Kunsthalle Basel.
Professorship at the Hochschule der Künste, Berlin, until 2003.
1984
Touring retrospective of drawings opens at Kunstmuseum Basel.
Appointed member of the Akademie der Künste, Berlin, until 1992.
1985
Exhibition at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris.
Writes the manifesto “The Painter’s Equipment“.
1986
Awarded the Kaiserring by the town of Goslar in Lower Saxony.
1987
Sets up additional studio in Imperia on the Italian Riviera.
1988
Finishes The Painter’s Picture.
1989
Participates in “Bilderstreit”, Messehalle, Cologne.
Sculpture series Women of Dresden.
1990
Retrospective at Kunsthaus Zürich, touring to Kunsthalle Düsseldorf.
1991
Begins work on the series One Picture Over Another amounting to 39 pictures.
1992
Gives the lecture “Somersaults are also movement, and they’re fun too”, at the Münchner Kammerspiele.
1993
Stage design for Harrison Birtwistle’s opera “Punch and Judy”, commissioned by De Nederlandse Opera, Amsterdam.
1994
Writes the manifesto “Painting out of my head, upside down, out of the hat”.
Makes the sculpture Armalamor, which is set up in 1996 at the Deutsche Bibliothek in Frankfurt.
1995
Retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum, New York, touring to Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC and Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin.
1996
Retrospective at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.
1997
“Portraits of Elke” opens the touring exhibition at Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas.
1998
Exhibition at the Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City.
Finishes two paintings in giant format for the Reichstag in Berlin.
1999
“Travels in the Netherlands” exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.
Retrospective “Gravures Monumentales” at Musée Rath, Geneva.
2000
Honorary professorship at the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts.
2001
“Sculpture versus Painting”, exhibition at IVAM Centre Julio González, Valencia.
2002
Appointed Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France.
2003
Makes My New Hat, a self-portrait sculpture in giant format.
2004
Retrospective at the Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn.
Awarded the Praemium Imperiale, Tokyo.
2005
Joint exhibition with Benjamin Katz, “Attori a rovescio”, at Villa Faravelli, Imperia, Italy.
Begins work on the “Remix” series.
2006
Retrospectives at the Louisiana Museum of Art, Humlebæk, Denmark and at the Fondation de l’Hermitage, Lausanne, Switzerland.
“Remix” opens at Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, touring to Albertina, Vienna.
Moves to Bavaria in the south of Germany.
2007
“The Russian Pictures” opens at Musée d’Art Moderne, Saint-Étienne, touring to the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul and the Deichtorhallen, Hamburg.
Exhibits with Emilio Vedova in the Venetian Pavilion at the 52nd Venice Biennale.
Retrospective at the Royal Academy of Arts, London.
2008
Exhibition and 70th birthday celebration at Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin.
Retrospective at MADRE Museum, Naples.
“Baselitz: Top ? ” exhibition at Kunsthalle Würth, Schwäbisch Hall.
2009
“Mrs Lenin and the Nightingale”, at White Cube, London.
Retrospective at Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, touring to Rudolfinum, Prague.
Retrospectives at Museum Frieder Burda and Staatliche Kunsthalle, Baden-Baden.
2010
Exhibitions at Helsinki Art Museum, Tennis palace and Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo.
Designs the issue from October 1st of the German Newspaper “Die Welt”.
2011
The Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris shows the retrospective “Baselitz Sculpteur”.
Lives and works on the lake Ammersee (Bavaria, Germany) and Imperia (Italian Riviera).
Compiled by Archiv Baselitz
© Archiv Baselitz 2013
Photos: Benjamin Katz and Courtesy Archiv Baselitz
