Georg Baselitz Do not disturb, 2021

Do not disturb (2021) is from a new series of portraits of Georg Baselitz’s wife Elke, whose image has occupied a prominent position in his work for over 50 years. The pictorial field surrounding Elke has become increasingly abstract as the artist finds new ways to approach established subjects and, here, two spectral figures materialise against a mysterious dark background. In his double portraits, Baselitz engages in the struggle of representation, the inescapability of subjectivity and the representation of the self through a significant other.

Baselitz’s recent portraits also represent an ongoing exploration of his personal style, as well as subtle art-historical allusions to German Expressionism, French Art Informel and American abstraction. He intensifies the intimacy and sensuousness of his motif through his use of the colour transfer technique, which introduces an element of chance into the compositions. The repetition of two figures within the same pictorial space creates a sense of rhythm and pattern, emphasising the formal aspects of the painting.