(Deutschbaselitz 1938–lives and works i.a. in Salzburg)

Untitled (eagle). 1979.

Gouache on paper.

Monogrammed and dated lower right: G.B. III.79, also inscribed on the reverse: G.B.Z. 52.

85 x 61 cm.

Provenance:
- Galerie Fahnemann, Berlin.
- Purchased in 1988 from the above by the present owner, since then private collection Germany.

Exhibitions:
- 1987 Basel, Georg Baselitz - Adler, 53 Arbeiten auf Papier von 1979. Galerie Buchmann, 2 June - 1 August.
- 1987 Frankfurt, Georg Baselitz - Adler. 53 Gouachen und Zeichnungen, entstanden vom November 1978 bis April 1979. Galerie Neuendorf, 10 September - 10 November.
- 1988 Berlin, Georg Baselitz - Adler-Serie, Zeichnungen 1979. Galerie Fahnemann, 11 - 30 April.

Literature: Exh. Cat.: Georg Baselitz - Adler (53 Gouachen und Zeichnungen), Frankfurt 1988, cat. no. 38.

The eagle motif runs throughout the work of Georg Baselitz like a basic triad chord. It is repeatedly employed in various formats and techniques, and is the testing ground for new possibilities in painting and drawing. The eagle first appeared in his work in 1962. At first it was the symbolic nature of the eagle which was predominant. For over 5000 years the eagle has symbolised strength, power and superiority. Yet in his consistent examination of this motif, Baselitz has transcended the purely motivic level. One phase where George Baselitz examined this theme most intensively, was in the group of large format sheets from 1978/1979, from which the present work comes: “Der Adler”, dated 1979. What is striking about this phase is the concentration of the works from both the temporal and the thematic point of view. In this series, it is clear that the eagle, unlike before, now serves as way for Baselitz in his artistic play, to grapple with this motif through experiment. The works in this group are not therefore eagle studies, but studies of drawing (Günter Gerken in Georg Baselitz. Adler, Frankfurt 1988, p.5). Baselitz develops his works not in order to provide a more complete depiction of the eagle; rather, he is striving to move from the perfection of the depiction towards imperfection. Only in imperfection can the drawing develop its full force – free from all limits and expectations that come with a reflection of reality. “The ease with which the conventional canon of drawing can be satisfied must be overcome, so that new possibilities for drawing can be unlocked.” (ibid. p. 6)

Just as the inversion of the motif is a challenge to the dominance of convention and the canon, a challenge to tradition (representational painting) and trends (current abstract tendencies), so anti-drawing is a liberation of drawing from its boundaries and limitations. By destroying what is present, space is created in which something new can emerge. The drawings are traces of this process of renewal, a questioning of established pictorial construction. Access to these works comes by means of the sensuousness of the material, beyond any rational pictorial reflection. In the modification of the broad spectrum of materials used, the viewer can find their own position in relation to what is featured there. In viewing a work, such as the picture “Der Adler” which is presented here, the question is: in what form does Baselitz succeed in leaving the motif of the drawing, without losing it entirely?

“Reality is the picture, it is most definitely not in the picture.”
(Georg Baselitz in: Tekeningen – Zeichnungen, Exh. Cat. Groninger Museum, Groningen 1979)