A Review Of Baselitz's Painting 'Elkinstuhl'
Description
An expressionist figure painting of a nude woman using oil paint on linen
Head leaning back and sitting comfortably in her arm-chair, the woman’s left arm is slung over her chest and her right arm supporting her leaning into the armrest. She has her right leg relaxed and her foot gently touching the floor. Her left leg is folded up, pushing hard against the edge of the seat.
There are no recognizable objects other than the woman and the arm-chair.
The artist uses a primary color scheme consistently throughout the painting, creating warm blues, cool yellows, and dark reds. Muddy neutral colors are highlighted by bolder ones.
The values of light to immediate dark allows the figure to stand out with the rest of the painting.
The artist …show more content…
creates a smooth texture of skin that contrasts the figure with it’s jagged, sharp, and lawless surroundings.
The thickness of the brush ranges from thin to thick. The strokes are moving in all directions, guided by violent, curved, jagged, choppy, and heavy lines.
Analysis Elke Kretzschmar Baselitz, the artist’s wife, is the subject of the painting. She is vigorously painted upside-down, sitting on a barely distinguishable arm-chair. Her gesture is guided by the golden ratio, bringing attention to her stern expression colored with a balance of blues and reds. The shadows cast onto her body are almost entirely black, revealing harsh lighting and allowing her figure to stand out. There is very little depth in the painting, and the only amount of space is suggested by Elke’s position in the arm-chair. Although the proportions and anatomy of the subject are correct, the painting leans more abstract than realistic. Due to this abstraction, specific features of the subject are not recognizable, and it seems that the picture could be of any woman in particular. Further attention is drawn to the subject by the pale blue background strongly contrasts with the harsh, dark blue figure. Highlights of both the background and subject contain hints of yellows and red. The repeated use of choppy brush strokes and the overall asymmetry of the painting suggests the themes of chaos and disorder.
Interpretation:
In his later life, Baselitz studied art in both East and West Berlin and used his paintings to depict his perceptions of World War II and his experiences in the Cold War.
As a maturing artist, he joined the Expressionist movement to protest the uprising moralities and truths of his time. His paintings include destroyed landscapes, disturbing scenes, and in this case, upside-down figures. Rearranging his paintings allowed him to get a new sense of his subjects, including the one in Elke im Lehnstuhl (Elke in arm-chair). Baselitz’s goal in this was to depict the thin line between reality and abstraction in a time where the world turned upside-down. The violent brush strokes and the upside down figure in his painting alludes to the consequences and horrors of war, and how it distorts perceptions of reality to the unimaginable. In Elke im Lehnstuhl, the shades of blue with added hints of yellow and red could also add to this theme by suggesting violence (red) and joy (yellow) in the overarching amount of sadness(blue) present during times of war. The lack of a truly defined shape made with jagged lines only further conveys the chaos represented in the painting. However that is not to say that all hope for a better world is lost: By choosing a naked yet confident woman as his subject, Baselitz shows how people can remain calm and strong despite their
vulnerability.
Evaluation
Baselitz’s Elke im Lehnstuhl successfully conveys the exploding range of emotions felt during a crisis. The painting is able to tell a different story and provoke questions of morality to each of its viewers. With or without historical context, it is still true to its theme of disorder. In addition, Baselitz’s use of a primary color scheme and a rough, obscure style nicely complements the collection of Expressionist work.
An expressionist figure painting of a nude woman using oil paint on linen
Head leaning back and sitting comfortably in her arm-chair, the woman’s left arm is slung over her chest and her right arm supporting her leaning into the armrest. She has her right leg relaxed and her foot gently touching the floor. Her left leg is folded up, pushing hard against the edge of the seat.
There are no recognizable objects other than the woman and the arm-chair.
The artist uses a primary color scheme consistently throughout the painting, creating warm blues, cool yellows, and dark reds. Muddy neutral colors are highlighted by bolder ones.
The values of light to immediate dark allows the figure to stand out with the rest of the painting.
The artist …show more content…
creates a smooth texture of skin that contrasts the figure with it’s jagged, sharp, and lawless surroundings.
The thickness of the brush ranges from thin to thick. The strokes are moving in all directions, guided by violent, curved, jagged, choppy, and heavy lines.
Analysis Elke Kretzschmar Baselitz, the artist’s wife, is the subject of the painting. She is vigorously painted upside-down, sitting on a barely distinguishable arm-chair. Her gesture is guided by the golden ratio, bringing attention to her stern expression colored with a balance of blues and reds. The shadows cast onto her body are almost entirely black, revealing harsh lighting and allowing her figure to stand out. There is very little depth in the painting, and the only amount of space is suggested by Elke’s position in the arm-chair. Although the proportions and anatomy of the subject are correct, the painting leans more abstract than realistic. Due to this abstraction, specific features of the subject are not recognizable, and it seems that the picture could be of any woman in particular. Further attention is drawn to the subject by the pale blue background strongly contrasts with the harsh, dark blue figure. Highlights of both the background and subject contain hints of yellows and red. The repeated use of choppy brush strokes and the overall asymmetry of the painting suggests the themes of chaos and disorder.
Interpretation:
In his later life, Baselitz studied art in both East and West Berlin and used his paintings to depict his perceptions of World War II and his experiences in the Cold War.
As a maturing artist, he joined the Expressionist movement to protest the uprising moralities and truths of his time. His paintings include destroyed landscapes, disturbing scenes, and in this case, upside-down figures. Rearranging his paintings allowed him to get a new sense of his subjects, including the one in Elke im Lehnstuhl (Elke in arm-chair). Baselitz’s goal in this was to depict the thin line between reality and abstraction in a time where the world turned upside-down. The violent brush strokes and the upside down figure in his painting alludes to the consequences and horrors of war, and how it distorts perceptions of reality to the unimaginable. In Elke im Lehnstuhl, the shades of blue with added hints of yellow and red could also add to this theme by suggesting violence (red) and joy (yellow) in the overarching amount of sadness(blue) present during times of war. The lack of a truly defined shape made with jagged lines only further conveys the chaos represented in the painting. However that is not to say that all hope for a better world is lost: By choosing a naked yet confident woman as his subject, Baselitz shows how people can remain calm and strong despite their
vulnerability.
Evaluation
Baselitz’s Elke im Lehnstuhl successfully conveys the exploding range of emotions felt during a crisis. The painting is able to tell a different story and provoke questions of morality to each of its viewers. With or without historical context, it is still true to its theme of disorder. In addition, Baselitz’s use of a primary color scheme and a rough, obscure style nicely complements the collection of Expressionist work.