That was in 1957. And there I found out that Germany is a kind of province. I didn't know anything about expressionism, about the Bauhaus and Dada and surrealism. I was uneducated, so to speak - and everybody else was more or less uneducated, too.
Georg BaselitzIn the beginning, the energy involved to create came from my reaction to the work of other artists. The force behind this was aggression. The art that I saw was great, but I had to reject it, because I could not continue in the same direction. So I had to do something entirely different. It had to be so different, so extreme, that those who loved pop art, for instance, hated me. And this was my strength.
Georg BaselitzThe artist is not responsible to any one. His social role is asocial... his only responsibility consists in an attitude to the work he does.
Georg BaselitzI dont want to create a monster; I want to make something which is new, exceptional, something that only I do...something that references tradition, but is still new.
Georg BaselitzAn object painted upside down is suitable for painting because it is unsuitable as an object.
Georg BaselitzI remember that Michael Werner told me about a famous collector, and Michael set up an appointment for us to meet. This man looked around the room and at my pictures. Then he said, "Young man, why are you doing these horrible things? Look out the window. There are nice girls out there. It's springtime. Look at how beautiful the world can be. You'll ruin your health by smoking so much and doing such tortured things."
Georg Baselitz