Georg Baselitz Archinto

The Museum of Palazzo Grimani will host an exhibition, curated by Mario Codognato, of new and recent works by the German artist Georg Baselitz. Born in 1938, he is one of the most significant artists of his generation. 

Archinto will be set up on the main floor of the museum and twelve canvases made specifically for the Sala del Portego will be placed in its original eighteenth-century stucco frames, where portraits stood out until the 19th century of the Grimani family. Thanks to a special agreement, these works will remain in long-term loan to the museum by permission of the artist. It is the first time to date that a similar collaboration has taken place between a contemporary artist and a state museum in Venice .

In Archinto, Baselitz pays homage to Venice and its rich artistic tradition, on the one hand re-establishing historical continuity and on the other signaling a break between celebrated Renaissance portraiture and its contemporary equivalents. The title of the exhibition and his works refer to the enigmatic portrait of Cardinal Filippo Archinto that Titian painted in 1558. Bringing the sensitivity of the Old Masters into a current context, the ghostly quality of Baselitz's paintings confirms his interest in engraving techniques and alludes to the constant artistic theme of human mortality.