Georg Baselitz: Belle Haleine is an exhibition of monumental works on paper by ground-breaking artist Georg Baselitz (b. 1938).
This exhibition marks the first time these ten provocative prints have been exhibited together since they were made and shown over 20 years ago. The colossal hand-printed linocuts are collectively titled Belle Haleine, a name taken from a work of art by Marcel Duchamp, an artist who is frequently referenced by Baselitz.
Belle Haleine, the largest prints ever made by Baselitz, each measuring over two metres in height, depict partially clothed copulating couples, in scenes taken from nineteenth-century erotic lithographs. Baselitz trains our gaze across each image by depicting the figures upside down, a technique he has used since 1969. To resist descriptive interpretation of his subject matter the artist inverts his figures and motifs so that the subject of each work becomes the act of mark-making itself.
The title Belle Haleine is a direct reference to Belle Haleine, Eau de Voilette (Beautiful Breath, Veil Water), an artwork made by Marcel Duchamp with the assistance of Man Ray. The readymade was conceived in 1920 and consisted of a perfume bottle with a modified label featuring a picture of Duchamp’s female alter ego Rrose Sélavy. This name is a pun on “Eros, c’est la vie” which translates to “Love [or sex], that’s life”, an interpretation Baselitz carries into the ten prints.
Also on show:
Georg Baselitz: Prints 2017 – 2021 – a display of recent and new etchings by the artist
| Duration | 10 November 2023 - 22 December 2023 |
| Times | Tuesday - Friday: 11am - 5.30pm Saturday: 11am - 2pm |
| Cost | Free |
| Venue | Cristea Roberts Gallery |
| Address | 43 Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5JG |
| Contact | 2074391866 / info@alancristea.com / www.alancristea.com |