Portraits of artists...

8:08 p.m.

15/04/19 - The Gagosian Gallery in Chelsea, New York, is displaying an exhibition dedicated to Georg Baselitz (Germany, 1938), who in the last Art Basel Hong Kong sold a bronze sculpture for U$S 1.7M.

In this opportunity he presents a series of recent portraits of artists admired by Baselitz, that's why the exhibition is called "Devotion".What makes the artworks interesting is the presence of the gesture in the paintings, plus the fact that the neo-expressionist artist has chosen to depict them head down.

As the subjects are not easily recognizable at first sight, since they were created through abstraction, Baselitz has included their initials and that helps with the identification. The faces, with excess of white paint, present a black background, as a hint that the space is not real.

Tracey E., by Georg Baselitz (2018)

Technique: oil on canvas / Measures: 165 x 100 cm

Willem de K., by Georg Baselitz (2018)

Technique: oil on canvas / Measures: 165 x 100 cm

Piet M., by Georg Baselitz (2018)

Technique: oil on canvas / Measures: 165 x 100 cm

Calder, by Georg Baselitz (2018)

Technique: oil on canvas / Measures: 184 x 113 cm

The information of the exhibition explains that Baselitz was inspired by the portraits of other artists that he saw in different museums. That's the case of Franc Marc, who depicted Henri Rousseau or Picasso's with De Chirico. After seeing those works, he started his own research and thus creates these portraits-tribute. The exhibition is of huge visual impact, because all the works have the same size, and the heads present that unusual position. After reading the signs and understanding, Baselitz it's easy to feel admiration for his work and idea.