Untitled (Animal Piece) [Tierstück]

Maker

(artist)
b.1938 (Life dates)

Title

Date of Production

1965

Medium

brush and black ink on laid paper

Dimensions

Height: 64.8 cm
Width: 49.9 cm

Accession Number

D.2020.HK.1

Mode of Acquisition

Karshan Collection, gift, 2020

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) Gift by Linda Karshan in memory of her husband, Howard Karshan.

Copyright

Location

Not currently on display

Label Text

This drawing presents an amorphous pile of what seem to be bulbous body parts, or ‘animal pieces’ as the title suggests. Two female figures emerge in the upper and lower right. Some of the other forms have the appearance of eyeballs or breasts. Georg Baselitz used the stark contrast of black ink on white paper to give this unsettling image greater drama. Perhaps this is the tragic aftermath of a violent episode, or a vision of life as monstrous and tortured.

Provenance

acquired directly from the artist by Johannes Gachnang, Bern, Switzerland, by 1984 [when lent to exh.]; Galerie Daniel Blau, Munich; purchased there by Howard Karshan (1933-2017), 21 March 2001 [invoice in file]; Presented by Linda Karshan in memory of her husband, Howard Karshan, 2020

Exhibition History

From the Baroque to Today: New Acquisitions of Works on Paper, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 23/02/2024-27/05/2024

Modern Drawings: The Karshan Gift, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 19/11/2021-09/01/2022

Georg Baselitz Zeichnungen 1958-1983, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, 28/01/1984-26/02/1984; Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, 17/03/1984-16/05/1984; Städtisches Kunstmuseum, Bonn, 13/06/1984-26/08/1984; Kunsthall Nürnberg, Norishalle, Nuremberg, 14/09/1984-04/11/1984; Kunstverein Hannover, Hanover, 01/02/1985-01/03/1985; Badischer Kunstverein Karlsruhe, 01/05/1985-01/06/1985 ...More

Georg Baselitz, Zeichnungen und Radierungen 1960-1970, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich, 05/10/1972-05/11/1972 ...Less

Literature

Modern Drawings: The Karshan Gift, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 20 Nov. 2021 - 9 Jan. 2022
cat. no. 23
ill. on p. 109

Petherbridge, Deanna, The primacy of drawing: histories and theories of practice, New Haven 2010
p. 243
ill.

Georg Baselitz Zeichnungen 1958-1983, Basel, Eindhoven, Bonn, Nuremberg, Hannover and Karlsruhe, 1984-85
cat. no. 119
abb. 58 ...More

Georg Baselitz, Zeichnungen und Radierungen 1960-1970, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich, 1972
ill. ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: "INGRES".

Inscription: Recto: lower right, ink, signed with initials: “G.B.”. Verso: lower centre, brush and ink, signed and dated: "G. Baselitz 65 (Florenz)". .

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