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Georg Baselitz

What if...

March 12–May 2, 2020
San Francisco

Installation view Artwork © Georg Baselitz 2020. Photo: Robert Divers Herrick

Installation view

Artwork © Georg Baselitz 2020. Photo: Robert Divers Herrick

Installation view Artwork © Georg Baselitz 2020. Photo: Robert Divers Herrick

Installation view

Artwork © Georg Baselitz 2020. Photo: Robert Divers Herrick

Installation view Artwork © Georg Baselitz 2020. Photo: Robert Divers Herrick

Installation view

Artwork © Georg Baselitz 2020. Photo: Robert Divers Herrick

Installation view Artwork © Georg Baselitz 2020. Photo: Robert Divers Herrick

Installation view

Artwork © Georg Baselitz 2020. Photo: Robert Divers Herrick

Installation view Artwork © Georg Baselitz 2020. Photo: Robert Divers Herrick

Installation view

Artwork © Georg Baselitz 2020. Photo: Robert Divers Herrick

Installation view Artwork © Georg Baselitz 2020. Photo: Robert Divers Herrick

Installation view

Artwork © Georg Baselitz 2020. Photo: Robert Divers Herrick

Installation view Artwork © Georg Baselitz 2020. Photo: Robert Divers Herrick

Installation view

Artwork © Georg Baselitz 2020. Photo: Robert Divers Herrick

Installation view Artwork © Georg Baselitz 2020. Photo: Robert Divers Herrick

Installation view

Artwork © Georg Baselitz 2020. Photo: Robert Divers Herrick

Works Exhibited

Georg Baselitz, Ist dem etwas entgangen? (Did he miss the moment?), 2019 Oil on canvas, 98 ½ × 78 ¾ inches (250 × 200 cm)© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Ist dem etwas entgangen? (Did he miss the moment?), 2019

Oil on canvas, 98 ½ × 78 ¾ inches (250 × 200 cm)
© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, German Kraut, paint Roy and Bill, 2019 Oil on canvas, 98 ½ × 78 ¾ inches (250 × 200 cm)© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, German Kraut, paint Roy and Bill, 2019

Oil on canvas, 98 ½ × 78 ¾ inches (250 × 200 cm)
© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Noch etwas aus alter Zeit (Another thing from the olden days), 2019 Oil on canvas, 98 ½ × 78 ¾ inches (250 × 200 cm)© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Noch etwas aus alter Zeit (Another thing from the olden days), 2019

Oil on canvas, 98 ½ × 78 ¾ inches (250 × 200 cm)
© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Irgendwie habe ich das schon einmal gesehen (Somehow that looks familiar), 2019 Oil on canvas, 98 ½ × 78 ¾ inches (250 × 200 cm)© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Irgendwie habe ich das schon einmal gesehen (Somehow that looks familiar), 2019

Oil on canvas, 98 ½ × 78 ¾ inches (250 × 200 cm)
© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, War das schon einmal da? (Has that already been done?), 2019 Oil on canvas, 98 ½ × 78 ¾ inches (250 × 200 cm)© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, War das schon einmal da? (Has that already been done?), 2019

Oil on canvas, 98 ½ × 78 ¾ inches (250 × 200 cm)
© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Aus den 50iger Jahren etwas (Something from the fifties), 2019 Oil on canvas, 98 ½ × 78 ¾ inches (250 × 200 cm)© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Aus den 50iger Jahren etwas (Something from the fifties), 2019

Oil on canvas, 98 ½ × 78 ¾ inches (250 × 200 cm)
© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Orangenesser 6 (Orange Eater 6), 2019 Oil on canvas, 66 ⅞ × 57 ⅛ inches (170 × 145 cm)© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Orangenesser 6 (Orange Eater 6), 2019

Oil on canvas, 66 ⅞ × 57 ⅛ inches (170 × 145 cm)
© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Orangenesser 8 (Orange Eater 8), 2019 Oil on canvas, 67 × 57 ⅛ inches (170 × 145 cm)© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Orangenesser 8 (Orange Eater 8), 2019

Oil on canvas, 67 × 57 ⅛ inches (170 × 145 cm)
© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Orangenesser 11 (Orange Eater 11), 2019 Oil on canvas, 65 × 53 ⅛ inches (165 × 135 cm)© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Orangenesser 11 (Orange Eater 11), 2019

Oil on canvas, 65 × 53 ⅛ inches (165 × 135 cm)
© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Orangenesser 14 (Orange Eater 14), 2019 Oil on canvas, 64 ⅞ × 53 ⅛ inches (165 × 135 cm)© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Orangenesser 14 (Orange Eater 14), 2019

Oil on canvas, 64 ⅞ × 53 ⅛ inches (165 × 135 cm)
© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Orangenesser 15 (Orange Eater 15), 2019 Oil on canvas, 64 ⅞ × 53 ⅛ inches (165 × 135 cm)© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Orangenesser 15 (Orange Eater 15), 2019

Oil on canvas, 64 ⅞ × 53 ⅛ inches (165 × 135 cm)
© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Wenn das Wörtchen wenn nicht wär, wärs Lichtenstein gewesen (If if were not a word, it would have been Lichtenstein), 2019 Oil on canvas, 99 ⅝ × 161 inches (253 × 410 cm)© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Wenn das Wörtchen wenn nicht wär, wärs Lichtenstein gewesen (If if were not a word, it would have been Lichtenstein), 2019

Oil on canvas, 99 ⅝ × 161 inches (253 × 410 cm)
© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Orangenesser 16 – Oslo (Orange Eater 16 – Oslo), 2019 Oil on canvas, 64 ⅞ × 53 ⅛ inches (165 × 135 cm)© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Orangenesser 16 – Oslo (Orange Eater 16 – Oslo), 2019

Oil on canvas, 64 ⅞ × 53 ⅛ inches (165 × 135 cm)
© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Die Schlittschuhläuferin (The Skating Woman), 2019 Oil on canvas, 98 ½ × 78 ¾ inches (250 × 200 cm)© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Die Schlittschuhläuferin (The Skating Woman), 2019

Oil on canvas, 98 ½ × 78 ¾ inches (250 × 200 cm)
© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Eisbahn (Ice Rink), 2019 Oil on canvas, 98 ½ × 78 ¾ inches (250 × 200 cm)© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Eisbahn (Ice Rink), 2019

Oil on canvas, 98 ½ × 78 ¾ inches (250 × 200 cm)
© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Holiday on Ice, 2019 Oil on canvas, 98 ½ × 78 ¾ inches (250 × 200 cm)© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, Holiday on Ice, 2019

Oil on canvas, 98 ½ × 78 ¾ inches (250 × 200 cm)
© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, auf der Eisbahn (On the Ice Rink), 2019 Oil on canvas, 98 ½ × 78 ¾ inches (250 × 200 cm)© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

Georg Baselitz, auf der Eisbahn (On the Ice Rink), 2019

Oil on canvas, 98 ½ × 78 ¾ inches (250 × 200 cm)
© Georg Baselitz 2019. Photo: Jochen Littkemann

About

I don’t want to see what I am making. I don’t want to have an overview, to create any kind of order that can be controlled visually.
—Georg Baselitz

Gagosian is pleased to present What if…, an exhibition of new paintings by Georg Baselitz. This is his first solo exhibition in the San Francisco gallery.

A pioneer of Neo-Expressionism, Baselitz conjures new formal developments from art historical lineages—his own extensive oeuvre included. Although his paintings focus on the human figure, his raw, vigorous mark making creates new and emotionally charged routes within abstraction.

The oil-on-canvas compositions in What if… mark a significant development in Baselitz’s technique. The paintings are created with a transfer method: he paints on a piece of unstretched canvas and then presses a second canvas onto the first to make an impression in oils. Through this technique, Baselitz continues to expand his own practice of painting and mark making, finding new ways to treat established subjects.

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