Georg Baselitz Retrospective: Masterpieces Valued at 150 Billion Won Unveiled at Sehwa Museum of Art

A large-scale retrospective that allows viewers to survey the artistic world of Neo-Expressionism master Georg Baselitz in one place is being held at the Sehwa Museum of Art in Jongno-gu, Seoul. This exhibition, which gathers the works of the artist who passed away last April, has an insurance value of approximately 150 billion won and broadly presents a wide range of works, from early pieces to the golden-hued works of his later years, spanning his 60-year artistic life. The Sehwa Museum of Art, which positions itself as an urban museum, is welcoming visitors by offering a 50% discount to office workers during their lunch hours.

Rejecting the Pain of the Era and Authority with Inverted Images

According to the docent Jung Woo-chul's video, one of the main features of this exhibition is Baselitz's unique method of inverting forms. By painting figures or objects upside down, the artist makes the audience rethink the subject. In particular, works utilizing the eagle image, a national symbol of Germany, draw attention. While eagles usually symbolize authority and victory and are depicted soaring into the sky, the eagles in Baselitz's works appear as unstable forms that are inverted or falling. This carries a message of cautioning that national symbols can be used as tools of ideology and instructing not to believe the stories of great authority as they are. The video explains that the artist often paints in an inverted state from the planning stage, and sometimes even works by laying the canvas flat to eliminate the distinction between left and right or front and back.

Furthermore, the artist intentionally varies subjects that were used as propaganda tools during the Nazi era. While using cows and green meadows, which symbolize peaceful pastoral landscapes, as subjects, he reveals division and anxiety by cutting the screen horizontally or placing forms out of alignment. His representative work, 〈Two Cows〉, features the body of the cows cut by a horizontal line in the center of the screen, with the upper and lower shapes misaligned, evoking memories of nationalism and war hidden behind the seemingly harmless landscape. The artist sometimes uses his hands instead of a brush to leave rough textures, through which he intensely expressed the pain of the era and inner emotions.

A 60-Year Record of Love, a Series Dedicated to His Wife Ilke

One axis of the exhibition is occupied by a series of paintings of the artist's wife, Ilke, who has been with him throughout his life. Ilke, who has appeared repeatedly on Baselitz's canvases for about 60 years since their marriage in 1962, is a figure symbolizing the artist's purest love. While he painted her with rough and intense brushstrokes during his early Neo-Expressionism period, in his later works, she is depicted as appearing pale like a ghost or an X-ray against dark and empty backgrounds. This shows how the anger of his youth transformed into an attitude of gazing at the disappearance and death of a loved one as he aged.

In particular, among the late series produced around 2025, there are works containing the emotions felt when Ilke was hospitalized. The video explains that because the artist worked while laying the canvas flat and moving in a hospital wheelchair, unique traces of wheelchair marks can be seen on the canvas. These traces are an important point showing how the artist utilized tools to express his heart. This space gives a feeling as if an angel is falling, delivering a deep resonance to the audience.

The Essence of Neo-Expressionism and Urban Museum Visiting Tips

Baselitz is classified as a pioneer of 'Neo-Expressionism' that emerged in the 1980s. This is because he went beyond traditional Expressionism that expresses inner fear and sadness, combining the temporal pain he experienced and social messages into even more intense forms. On the second floor of the exhibition, one can encounter works themed around feet and shoes. Through feet and shoes that support humans, he captured the appearance of Germany after its defeat and its hardships, and various variations continue, such as the 'Eckeli' series inspired by a photograph of Munch. In particular, in the 'Remix' series, he evokes the images of Marcel Duchamp and Han-yeol to present an erotic yet humorous sense, showing an attempt to neutralize the intimidation of specific individuals.

This exhibition is operated under the concept of an 'urban museum,' taking advantage of the characteristics of the Sehwa Museum of Art located in Gwanghwamun. Specifically, as a visiting tip for office workers, a 50% discount is provided to those who visit utilizing their lunch hour. The exhibition period lasts until December 27, 2026, and since the artist's late-life works and interview videos are also prepared, one can deeply experience his artistic legacy. At the entrance of the exhibition, the artist's representative outdoor sculpture 〈1965〉 is installed, signaling the beginning of entering Baselitz's artistic world through its rough surface.