Georg Baselitz - DVD

Content: The painter and sculptor Georg Baselitz is one of the most important contemporary German artists. The painter and sculptor has often provoked and excited, but also inspired and revolutionized the old familiar. Filmmaker Evelyn Schels accompanied the otherwise rather reclusive artist for three years with her camera. The result is a very intimate and honest portrait that not only reveals a biography of Georg Baselitz as a person and traces his artistic career. The film also allows the viewer an exciting insight into the artist's working methods. Snapshots and conversations with Georg Baselitz are enriched by interviews with companions, friends and family, as well as with various archive material.

This is not the only reason why Georg Baselitz is more than a simple artist biography. Schels succeeds brilliantly in vividly integrating Baselitz's life and work into the historical context, both in political, social and art-historical terms. In this way, the film becomes an exciting contemporary document that traces in a very interesting way the various levels of change that Germany has undergone in recent decades. This becomes clear, among other things, in the way people reacted to the scandal surrounding his first exhibition. Back then, two of his paintings were confiscated and the artist was accused of pornography. If that would ensure today that Baselitz should be pleased about increased media interest and a consequently increased number of visitors, the consequence at that time was that nobody came to the exhibition.

But the very frank conversations about his parents also reveal much about the social problems in the post-war period, and what he and his companions have to say about the artist scene in the early 1960s also reveals to some extent a fascinating insight into the attitude to life in this very important era.

But of course the artist and his work are the real focus of the documentary. Watching Baselitz at work is just as interesting as learning more about the many controversies his art has brought. For example, the documentary also shows a very critical TV report about the exhibition, in which the first sculpture Baselitz created is shown. The fact that the viewer is not just sprinkled with praise for the artist, but is also involved in critical questioning, makes this film so exciting and worth watching.

Georg Baselitz is, of course, first and foremost a must-see for all art enthusiasts and lovers of the work of this important artist. But even viewers who are not necessarily interested in art, but in contemporary history and in exciting portraits, will not feel a moment of boredom here. A really great documentary, for which there is only one possible conclusion: Absolutely worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: Only when the film makes use of archive material such as old interviews or TV reports, minor soiling or blurring can be detected. Otherwise, the technical implementation of the DVD is on a good to very good level for a current documentary. The picture is clean, the coloration seems very authentic and the voices sound powerful and always well understandable from the speakers. Good!

Extras: In addition to a short contribution to the theatrical release from the channel 3Sat (about 1 min.), there is on the DVD only the trailer for the film and other program tips from the provider.

Conclusion: Georg Baselitz is an engaging artist portrait that not only reveals a highly interesting insight into the working methods of Georg Baselitz. In addition to the numerous snapshots from his studio, the artist, his family and companions also tell very comprehensive and honest about the private as well as artistic career of Baselitz, whereby in addition to many successes, private as well as artistic setbacks and critical self-reflection are part of the documentary. A highly exciting film that allows the viewer to get very close to the artist as well as to the person Georg Baselitz. Absolutely recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp