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German Artist Georg Baselitz Dies at 88, Venice Exhibition Ahead

5/2/2026

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Summary

Baselitz Dies

Georg Baselitz died at 88, with Thaddaeus Ropac gallery confirming his death on April 30.
He was born Hans-Georg Kern on Jan. 23 1938 in Deutschbaselitz, Upper Lusatia, then Nazi Germany.
His 1963 Berlin solo show provoked police seizure of two paintings as obscene.
In 2017 German police recovered 15 stolen Baselitz works valued at about $2.9 million.
Venice will host his “Golden Heroes” exhibition from May 6 to Sept. 27.

Summary

Baselitz Wins Prize

German painter Georg Baselitz won the Praemium Imperiale in 2004, often called the arts’ Nobel Prize.
In the 1980s he ranked among Germany’s top-earning painters with Gerhard Richter and Anselm Kiefer.
Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery represented Baselitz for over two decades, covering his final years in Salzburg, Austria.
His “Avignon” series showed his aging body upside down, reflecting a heightened focus on mortality.

Summary

Baselitz Sparks Controversy

In a 2013 Der Spiegel interview, German artist Georg Baselitz said women cannot paint very well, a remark that sparked extensive criticism for sexism.
He is regarded as a key precursor to the 1980s Neue Wilde movement, whose artists adopted a Neo-Expressionist style breaking from Minimalist and Conceptual art.
Having witnessed the Allied bombing of Dresden as a child, Baselitz later referenced trauma in works such as Dinner in Dresden (1983).

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Baselitz Dies

Georg Baselitz died at 88, with Thaddaeus Ropac gallery confirming his death on April 30.
He was born Hans-Georg Kern on Jan. 23 1938 in Deutschbaselitz, Upper Lusatia, then Nazi Germany.
His 1963 Berlin solo show provoked police seizure of two paintings as obscene.
In 2017 German police recovered 15 stolen Baselitz works valued at about $2.9 million.
Venice will host his “Golden Heroes” exhibition from May 6 to Sept. 27.

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