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Quote by Georg Baselitz

“I became an artist because of the possibility it gave me to develop in another way, because I didn't want to follow the same lines the others around me did. I was educated in the former German Democratic Republic, which meant that an individual figure had to be... like a soldier in the army.”

Quote by Georg Baselitz

Author

German painter known for his unique artistic style and reflections on German history. Baselitz's works often blend abstract and representational elements, characterized by strong colors and bold compositions. more

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“That was in 1957. And there I found out that Germany is a kind of province. I didn't know anything about expressionism, about the Bauhaus and Dada and surrealism. I was uneducated, so to speak - and everybody else was more or less uneducated, too.”

Kind Speak Surrealism Uneducated

Author:Georg Baselitz

“I did not always trust my teachers, because I found them too weak. I was looking for something that could take me in a new direction, for things that I could admire. And because it was so hard to find this, I became a sort of outsider. That's why I began to identify with the insane, "outsider" artists.”

Artist Teacher Weak Admire Insane Outsiders

Author:Georg Baselitz

“I have always been aware of different movements and directions in art. But, in general, I'm always bored by any kind of generalization when it comes to artists. I think that there are just single individuals, who are valuable, and they work outside of any group.”

Thinking Kind Art Different Artist Individual Work Out Valuable Bored

Author:Georg Baselitz

“I have always had the feeling that other people are too stupid to discover interesting things. That's why I do it myself. I think of collecting as a way to show that I understand what's important better than others do.”

People Thinking Important Feelings Interesting Stupid

Author:Georg Baselitz

“I started collecting my artist friends, artists like myself who nobody had yet noticed. In everything, all I am collecting, so to speak, are my friends - artist friends.”

Author:Georg Baselitz

“Nowhere in my collection do I, say, have a Auguste Renoir painting. Because everybody knows that this is a good painter without me having to demonstrate it.”

Painting Painter

Author:Georg Baselitz

“When Michael Werner saw a painting of mine, such as Die grosse Nacht im Eimer, which back then nobody wanted and everybody thought was ridiculous, he realized that this was the right provocation, that it represented the feeling of the times in the right way.”

Feelings Painting Ridiculous

Author:Georg Baselitz

“I remember that Michael Werner told me about a famous collector, and Michael set up an appointment for us to meet. This man looked around the room and at my pictures. Then he said, "Young man, why are you doing these horrible things? Look out the window. There are nice girls out there. It's springtime. Look at how beautiful the world can be. You'll ruin your health by smoking so much and doing such tortured things."”

Men World Beautiful Remember Girl Nice Window Horrible Smoking Springtime Nice Girl

Author:Georg Baselitz

“I don't know who made up this sort of greatest-hits list for artists. If one artist isn't moving forward anymore, then it's assumed another one is going to take their place. With Francis Bacon's death, a whole genre of art died.”

Art Moving Artist Moving Forward

Author:Georg Baselitz

“I am not a representative of anything. When art historians or critics or the public put somebody in a drawer like this, it has a tranquilizing, paralyzing effect. Artists are individuals. They have ideas, and the conventions for one's self as an individual are not for a group. There are always those who follow the group, but they belong in the margins. I refuse to be placed within, or added to, one particular school.”

Art School Artist Individual Critics Historian

Author:Georg Baselitz