This drawing of a disturbing, grossly inflated female figure was made just as Georg Baselitz was emerging as one of the most radical new voices in German art after the Second World War. The woman’s spherical body almost consumes her tiny head and legs, while her breasts, stomach and genitalia are given prominence amidst the mass of covering hair. She holds a small whip but seems powerless to use it. The drawing is a deliberately provocative and grotesque rendering of one of art’s most familiar subjects, the female nude.

left the studio for an exhibition and was subsequently sold, 1964 [according to 242 Gallery]; Matthew Marks Gallery, New York, by 1992 [when lent to the Parallel Visions exh.]; 242 Gallery, New York; purchased there by Howard Karshan (1933-2017), 2 May 1997 [invoice in file]; Promised gift by Linda Karshan in memory of her husband, Howard Karshan. On long-term loan to The Courtauld Gallery, London.

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

Parallel Visions: Modern Artists and Outsider Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 18/10/1992-03/01/1993; Reina Sofia, Madrid, 11/02/1993-09/05/1993; Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, 04/07/1993-29/08/1993; Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo, 30/09/1993-12/12/1993

Georg Baselitz, Galerie Beyeler, Basel, 01/04/1986-01/06/1986

Modern Drawings: The Karshan Gift, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 20 Nov. 2021 - 9 Jan. 2022
cat. no. 22
Fig. p. p. 107

Parallel Visions: Modern Artists and Outsider Art, Los Angeles, Madrid, Basel and Tokyo, 1992-93
cat. no. 171
pp. 186, 309
Fig. p. p. 186

Georg Baselitz, Galerie Beyeler, Basel, 1986
cat. no. 57
Fig. p. repr.

Inscription: Recto: lower centre edge, graphite, signed and dated: "Baselitz 1964".

Label: Frame, Verso: upper left, two labels printed in black and filled in with typewriter on white labels: “GALERIE BEYELER BASEL / Ausst. GEORG BASELITZ / April – Juni 86 / Kat. Nr. 57” and “GALERIE BEYELER BASEL / 10769 / Georg BASELITZ / Ohne Titel (Peitschenfrau) 1964 / Bleistift-Zeichnung / 62,2 x 49 cm / 24 ½ x 19 ¼””; upper right, Karshan inv. tag with image of drawing [only visible on photograph in file and too small to read] and repeated on label on wire; lower left, black ink printed on white label: “Los Angeles County / Museum of Art 5905 Wilshire Boulevard / Los Angeles, California 90036 / EX.92.346 / Exhibition Dates: Parallel Visions: LACMA 10/18/92-1/3/93; Reina Sofia / 2/11/93-5/9/93; Kunsthalle Basel 7/4/93-8/29/93; / Setagaya 9/30/93-12/12/93. / Artist: Georg Baselitz / Title: Untitled (Peitschenfrau), 1964 / Date: / Medium: Pencil / Size: unframed: 24 ¼ x 19 ¼ in. / framed: 32 ½ x 26 ¾ in. / Lender: Collection Matthew Marks, New York / Accessory Size: ”.

Stamp: Frame, Verso: lower left, stamped in black: "BARK FRAMEWORKS INC / 85 GRAND STREET NEW YORK, NY 10023".