Royal Academy of Arts, London, 22 Sep – 9 Dec 2007

Art Knowledge News have pointed us in the direction of this intriguing new exhibition. Collected from over 30 different galleries and private lenders, this will be the most comprehensive collection of Baselitz’s work for some time. The drawings, paintings and sculptures will enable visitors to consider over 50 years. Variously decribed as hostile and austere, Baselitz’s images are often aggressive, featuring semi-abstract figures, free brushstrokes and large areas of colour on the canvas. This may come from his inspirational sources, which he claims are, diversely, the art works of the mentally ill, African, French and Italian art, and 16^th century printing.

Thrown out of art school in East Berlin after just one term for showing ‘sociopolitical immaturity’, Baselitz began to project a sense of antagonism and seclusion in his work, often depicting his subjects upside down in later pieces, to free them from the constraints of the canvas. Another reason for doing this was to enable him to mix the abstract with the realism of his painting and turn the work ‘on its head’, which was to become a motif for his work. Recently he has returned to this style, although in a more straightforward fashion, which the artist calls Remixes.

Working in many media, from linocuts through pen and ink and paint, and producing work from opera sets to sketches to sculptures and diptychs, much of Baselitz’s prolific catalogue will be on display in this exhibition.