Question 1

True or false: Baselitz insists all his paintings be displayed on the floor, not hung on walls.

Accepted Answer

False. While he often exhibits paintings upside down, he never requires floor display; his works are typically hung on walls inverted.

Question 2

True or false: Baselitz famously paints his subjects upside down to force viewers to focus on form, not content.

Accepted Answer

True. He began inverting his paintings in 1969, claiming it liberates the image from narrative and emphasizes painterly qualities.

Question 3

True or false: Georg Baselitz was born in East Germany and later defected to the West.

Accepted Answer

True. He was born in Deutschbaselitz, East Germany, in 1938 and was expelled from art school for 'sociopolitical immaturity' before moving West in 1957.

Question 4

True or false: Baselitz has always painted using only his left hand, even though he is naturally right-handed.

Accepted Answer

False. He is left-handed and uses his left hand naturally; this myth likely stems from his early figurative works being misread as awkward.

Question 5

True or false: Baselitz turned down an invitation to represent Germany at the Venice Biennale in 1980.

Accepted Answer

False. He actually represented West Germany at the 1980 Venice Biennale, where his controversial sculpture 'Model for a Sculpture' sparked debate.

Question 6

True or false: In the 1970s, Baselitz created a series of paintings inspired by Soviet propaganda posters.

Accepted Answer

False. His 'Heroes' series (1965-66) was influenced by German Expressionism and postwar trauma, not Soviet propaganda.

Question 7

True or false: Baselitz was the first living German artist to have a major retrospective at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

Accepted Answer

True. In 2020, the Royal Academy held a major Baselitz retrospective—the first for a living German artist there.

Question 8

True or false: Baselitz once carved a sculpture with a chainsaw while wearing lederhosen for a performance piece.

Accepted Answer

True. In 1963, he created the 'Pandämonium' performance in Berlin, where he used a chainsaw on wood while wearing traditional Bavarian lederhosen.

Georg Baselitz Trivia Questions