38+ Georg Baselitz Quotes On Art, Religion And Education

Georg Baselitz is a German painter known for his expressive, post-expressionist style. His works often feature distorted figures and bright colors, and his subject matter often deals with themes of German national identity. He is also known for his painting technique of turning his canvases upside down, which he began in 1969. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Georg Baselitz on art, religion, education.

Top 10 Georg Baselitz Quotes

1. The artist is not responsible to any one. His social role is asocial... his only responsibility consists in an attitude to the work he does.
2. Women don't paint very well. It's a fact. There are, of course, exceptions. Agnes Martin or, from the past, Paula Modersohn-Becker.
3. I begin with an idea, but as I work, the picture takes over. Then there is the struggle between the idea I preconceived... and the picture that fights for its own life.
4. I had always loved expressionist painting, like every European. In fact I admired it all the more because these were precisely the paintings despised by my father's generation.
5. Art is visceral and vulgar - it's an eruption.
6. I hang my work upside down to emphasize surface.
7. Asked what role he believes art plays in society, Baselitz replied, 'The same role as a good shoe, nothing more.
8. I always work out of uncertainty but when a painting's finished it becomes a fixed idea, apparently a final statement. In time though, uncertainty returns.. your thought process goes on.
9. The reality is the picture, it is most certainly not in the picture.
10. As an artist, I have been a risk-taker. And I've done a lot of different things. I don't make it easy for people. Identification is difficult. One doesn't recognize my art right away.

Georg Baselitz Short Quotes

• I always feel attacked when I'm asked about my painting.
• An object painted upside down is suitable for painting because it is unsuitable as an object.
• A painter doesn't need any talent. In fact, it's better not to have it.
• My Paintings are Battles.
• What I could never escape was Germany, and being German.
• You dig in and you find something.

Georg Baselitz Quotes About Art

I paint German artists whom I admire. I paint their pictures, their work as painters, and their portraits too. But oddly enough, each of these portraits ends up as a picture of a woman with blonde hair. I myself have never been able to work out why this happens. — Georg Baselitz

There's a market for art, and things are indeed going swimmingly, especially for German artists. But everything takes place in America and in London, where there are quite a few wealthy, engaged people. What motivates them to buy art is a different question, but they do. — Georg Baselitz

Despite all the taxes people pay, there supposedly isn't any money in this country for art. Of course, this makes an artist ask himself: "Well, then, what are you doing with the 100 million I pay each year? What happened to that money?" And he doesn't get an answer. — Georg Baselitz

Unlike the expressionists, I have never been interested in renewing the world through the vehicle of art. — Georg Baselitz

What counts most is finding new ways to get the world down in paint on my own terms. — Georg Baselitz

Georg Baselitz Famous Quotes And Sayings

I don't paint over my paintings with black paint. I paint black paintings. It isn't because I'm sad, just as I didn't paint red paintings yesterday because I was happy. Nor will I paint yellow paintings tomorrow because I'm jealous. — Georg Baselitz

In Germany, we often hear the absurd complaint that museums don't have the money to buy paintings. Of course, I'm not talking about me and my paintings. There are, after all, more popular painters in this country. — Georg Baselitz

There is no communication with any public whatsoever. The artist can ask no question, and he makes no statement; he offers no information, and his work cannot be used. It is the end product which counts. — Georg Baselitz

Museums collect what's important in their respective countries. In Berlin's National Gallery, however, this isn't the case. They're interested neither in me nor the other usual suspects. It's simply a German reality. — Georg Baselitz

Alfred Schnittke was an important contemporary composer, and he lived in Germany, but no one here has heard of him. Everyone has heard of Mozart, and many believe that he can still be found in that little house in Salzburg, which is why people stand there in line. I think that our music and our art belong to our era. If the public doesn't show up, it must be stupid. — Georg Baselitz

I don't like things that can be reproduced. Wood isn't important in itself but rather in the fact that objects made in it are unique, simple, unpretentious. — Georg Baselitz

I think the defect actually lies with male artists. Male artists often border on idiocy, while it's important for a woman not to be that way, if possible. Women are outstanding in science, just as good as men. — Georg Baselitz

I dont want to create a monster; I want to make something which is new, exceptional, something that only I do...something that references tradition, but is still new. — Georg Baselitz

I've painted, but I've also done graphics since as long as I can remember. So even people with little to spend could afford it. But even the graphic works are only bought by those who buy the big, expensive paintings. I think that's troublesome. — Georg Baselitz

The idea of changing or improving the world is alien to me and seems ludicrous. Society functions, and always has, without the artist. No artist has ever changed anything for better or worse. — Georg Baselitz

You cannot deny your origins: I love Kirchner more than Matisse, although Matisse was a greater artist. That isn't to do with nationality. It's a stronger feeling. — Georg Baselitz

No one who looks at my paintings can see whether a painting is upside down or not anymore. I've made or developed so many image models that some people have given up trying to keep track of me. But others have only one or two ways of doing things and are successful with that. — Georg Baselitz

Talent seduces us into interpretation. My sister could draw wonderfully, but she would never have hit upon the idea of becoming a painter. I never had that extreme talent. — Georg Baselitz

Spending money on art has always been frowned upon in this country - even earlier, when my and others' paintings cost almost nothing. Something is always more important. The people in charge are always peddling reasons that others seem to accept. Those who don't drink and aren't crazy, or who don't attract attention with how they behave in public, aren't noticed in art. — Georg Baselitz

I love my old paintings as postulates as fresh starting points but I have to destroy them. I have to make a new manifesto. — Georg Baselitz

All German painters have a neurosis with Germany's past: war, the postwar period most of all, East Germany. I addressed all of this in a deep depression and under great pressure. My paintings are battles, if you will. — Georg Baselitz

I was always on the outside. It was the worst when I still wanted to be a professor, having to deal with colleagues and students, and having to listen to all that academic nonsense. It's really just a haze that keeps them busy. But all of that is fortunately over now, once and for all. — Georg Baselitz

Life Lessons by Georg Baselitz

1. Georg Baselitz's work emphasizes the importance of experimentation and pushing the boundaries of traditional artistic conventions.
2. His use of unconventional materials, techniques, and subject matter encourages viewers to think outside the box and appreciate the beauty of unconventional forms.
3. His work also serves as a reminder that art can be used to express personal emotions and experiences, and to challenge societal norms.