THE EXHIBITION
To mark Georg Baselitz’s 85th birthday and in his honour, the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München is exhibiting exceptional works from two outstanding groups of prints within his œuvre. On the one hand, major early works from the ‘Helden’ (Heroes) series from the Sammlung’s unique holdings of more than 1,100 graphic works by the artist will be on display. These convey Baselitz’s radically expressive manner of drawing in the mid-1960s and confirm his preeminent position within modern and contemporary figurative art.
On the other hand, a second highlight will be works of a more recent date from his œuvre of prints. Munich’s unequalled holdings of 148 proofs for his remarkable artist’s book ‘Malelade’ from 1990, that show Georg Baselitz as a technical virtuoso and brilliant print artist, will be on view in their entirety for the first time. In ‘Malelade’, captivating colour etchings of lyrical power encounter the artist’s language experiments forming a congenial modern epic. And as befits the secrecy surrounding a birthday present, we have another magnificent surprise in store, too!