Georg Baselitz Sonnabend, 2021

Created in 2021, Sonnabend represents a significant development in Georg Baselitz’s technique: a paint transfer process marked by lightness and vivid colouration. He applies paint to a section of unstretched canvas before pressing a second canvas on top to leave a pigmented impression. The process of transferring paint from one surface to another recalls Andy Warhol’s blotted line technique from the 1950s, here, reimagined within the later artist’s distinctive painterly style.

‘Sonnabend’ is a German word for Saturday, along with the more common Samstag. Loosely translated, it means ‘the eve of Sunday’. The title of the painting gestures to the intimate nature of the subject-matter – Baselitz’s inverted depiction of his wife, Elke, whose image has occupied a prominent position in his oeuvre for over 50 years. The artist often plays with different associations within a single title; Sonnabend might also refer to Pop Art gallerist, Ileana Sonnabend, whose invitation for Baselitz to exhibit at her New York gallery in 1983 played a key role in the artist’s international breakthrough. 

创作于2021年的作品《星期六》(Sonnabend),标誌了乔治·巴塞利兹(Georg
Baselitz)绘画技法上的重大发展:一种以轻盈和生动色彩所构成的颜料移印过程。他将颜料涂抹在一块未拉直的画布上,然后再将第二块画布压在上面,让颜料留 下痕迹。这种将颜料从一个表面转移到另一个表面的过程,让人想起安迪·沃霍尔 (Andy Warhol)自1950年代开始使用的「涂染技法」(blotted line technique),以 此为基础,再揉合艺术家最新的独特绘画风格,作重新想像。
「Sonnabend」是德语中星期六之意,一般比较常用的词语是「Samstag」。它的意思 大致上是「星期日的前夕」。这个画题指出了主题的私密性质——巴塞利兹的妻子艾 尔克的颠倒形象在过往五十多年来一直是他的绘画中心主题。艺术家经常在一个 画题上玩味出多重联想;「Sonnabend」一词也可能与纽约普普艺术画廊主伊莲娜· 索纳班德有关,在1983年,她曾邀请巴塞利兹到纽约展出作品,成为他艺术生涯一 个重要的里程碑。