"Georg Baselitz"
2004
Directed by Heinz Peter Schwerfel

A documentary by filmmaker and art critic Heinz Peter Schwerfel on controversial German painter Georg Baselitz, who once referred to German painting traditions as "ugly," provoked censors with the sexual content of his postmodern works, and became famous for a series of upside-down paintings. This film looks at Baselitz at two points during his life. Once in 1987 on the occasion of his retrospective at the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn at the age of 50, and 17 years later, when Schwerfel asked the artist to reexamine his previous statements and to discuss the themes of his current work. "Baselitz manages to stand outside 'isms' of art yet remain central to its history" (Norman Rosenthal, Curator for the Royal Academy of the Arts). German with English subtitles.  97 minutes.