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Iconic Artist Georg Baselitz Dies at 88, Venice Biennale Opens

5/1/2026

Summary

Georg Baselitz Dies

Georg Baselitz (born 23 January 1938 in Deutschbaselitz) died on 30 April 2026 at 88, per Thaddaeus Ropac gallery.
He was expelled for “sociopolitical immaturity,” moved to West Berlin where 1963 show was closed and “The Big Night Down the Drain” seized as obscene.
He began painting inverted canvases in 1969.
His “Eroi d’Oro” opened at Fondazione Giorgio Cini on 6 May 2026 during the 61st Venice Biennale.

Summary

Baselitz Exhibition

The Museo Novecento in Florence presents “Baselitz. Avanti!” until 13 September 2026, confirming his relevance in European institutions.
Baselitz taught at the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Karlsruhe in the early 1980s, shaping a generation of German artists.
His “Remix” series, begun in 2005 and shown at the Pinakothek der Moderne in 2007, revisited motifs while his residence between Munich and Imperia sustains a dialogue with Italy that began in 1965.

Summary

Baselitz Retires

In a 2026 interview, Georg Baselitz said he will stop painting after six decades.
He described his drawing and painting as an excavation involving digging, drilling and mining.
He revealed he was born Hans-Georg Kern in Saxony before adopting the name Georg Baselitz.
His 2022 work *The Painter in His Bed*, photographed by his wife Elke Baselitz, was shown at Venice’s Museo di Palazzo Grimani in 2021–2022.

Summary

Baselitz Passes

Thaddaeus Ropac announced the death of artist Baselitz, noting his pioneering role in Neo-Expressionism.
Baselitz, A.R. Penck and Anselm Kiefer attacked Minimalist and Conceptualist trends of the 1970s.
His 1965-66 “Hero” series used blocky, thick-impasto figures in nightmarish post-war German landscapes, rejecting Sol LeWitt and Donald Judd.
The later “Fracture” series broke woodsmen, hunters and cows into horizontal strips that blend with terrain, expressing a visceral engagement with German history.

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Georg Baselitz Dies

Georg Baselitz (born 23 January 1938 in Deutschbaselitz) died on 30 April 2026 at 88, per Thaddaeus Ropac gallery.
He was expelled for “sociopolitical immaturity,” moved to West Berlin where 1963 show was closed and “The Big Night Down the Drain” seized as obscene.
He began painting inverted canvases in 1969.
His “Eroi d’Oro” opened at Fondazione Giorgio Cini on 6 May 2026 during the 61st Venice Biennale.

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