Georg Baselitz Kirchners Hand, 2019

Kirchners Hand (2019) forms part of a series of fire-gilded bronze hands and feet with titles that pay homage to artists whom Georg Baselitz admires, including Alexander Calder, Lucio Fontana, Diego Giacometti and, as here, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. From the beginning of his career, hands and feet, the primary means with which we connect with the world, are a constant subject in the canon of Georg Baselitz’s motifs. His early depictions of damaged, oversized limbs directly contradicted accepted notions of beauty, as well as reflecting his personal experiences of post-war Germany. However, the elegance of this elongated bas-relief is far removed from the maltreated limbs of these earlier series. Fragmented and distanced from its fleshy associations, Kirchners Hand acquires greater aesthetic and formal autonomy, representing nothing but itself.