Georg Baselitz and the presence in major museum collections
Published on 06/24/2026 at 20:56 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael MĂĽller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Georg Baselitz stands as one of the most influential German painters of the postwar period. His work, marked by inverted figures and an abrasive engagement with German history, has entered leading museum collections in Europe and the United States, as collection databases show.
Baselitz in public museum holdings
Museums such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Tate in London and the Centre Pompidou in Paris each hold important paintings, prints and sculptures by Georg Baselitz in their permanent collections.
The Museum of Modern Art lists works including the wood sculpture Mrs. Lenin and the Nightingale and several paintings and prints, underlining how Baselitz’s oeuvre entered the US institutional canon from the 1980s onward.
Collection depth in Germany and Europe
In Germany, the Nationalgalerie in Berlin and the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in DĂĽsseldorf have assembled substantial groups of Baselitz works, ranging from early neo-expressionist canvases to later, more reflective series.
The Centre Pompidou’s collection, which includes paintings and graphic works from the 1970s and 1980s, positions Baselitz in dialogue with European contemporaries who reintroduced figuration and expressive brushwork after high modernism.
All news and background on Georg Baselitz
For further coverage of Georg Baselitz, readers can explore past reports on exhibitions, auctions and institutional presentations in the AD HOC NEWS archive.
The core of Baselitz’s practice
Georg Baselitz emerged in the early 1960s with figurative paintings that turned away from both socialist realism and West German abstraction, often confronting German history with fractured bodies and rural motifs.
From 1969 he began systematically inverting his motifs, painting figures and landscapes upside down in works such as the Helden and later Fracture paintings, a strategy that shifts attention to paint handling and structure rather than narrative.
Where the artist stands now
Georg Baselitz’s work remains a fixture in major museum displays and collection presentations, while no new institutionally announced date falls into the immediate 30-day horizon.
Key facts on Georg Baselitz
- Artist: Georg Baselitz
- Medium / Genre: Painting and sculpture (figurative, postwar)
- Born: 1938, Deutschbaselitz (today Kamenz), Germany
- Place(s) of practice: Studio in Germany, longstanding international exhibition activity
- Active since: early 1960s
- Key work groups: Helden, Fracture paintings, Remix, Russian Paintings
- Current/last exhibition: Georg Baselitz - Retrospective, Centre Pompidou, 2021-2022
- Major collections: MoMA (New York), Tate (London), Centre Pompidou (Paris), Nationalgalerie (Berlin), Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen (DĂĽsseldorf)
- Awards: Praemium Imperiale for painting (2004), Goslar Kaiserring (1987)
- Next date: no announced public date within the next 30 days
Frequently asked questions about Georg Baselitz
Which museums hold major works by Georg Baselitz?
Important holdings are found at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Tate in London, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and major German institutions such as the Nationalgalerie and Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen.
What characterizes Georg Baselitz’s painting style?
Baselitz is known for expressive brushwork, fractured figuration and his decision, since 1969, to paint motifs upside down, emphasizing the autonomy of painting over straightforward depiction.
When did Georg Baselitz’s work enter major museum collections?
Works by Baselitz began entering major public collections during the 1970s and 1980s, as institutions in Germany, France, the United Kingdom and the United States acquired key paintings, prints and sculptures.
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