Baselitz X Schiavone: Etched Across Time
What links an artist from contemporary Germany with one from sixteenth-century Venice? Can there even be a connection between two creative minds almost five hundred years apart? Can two masters affected by completely different social and cultural influences share similarities in approach? Is it possible to compare the work of an Italian mannerist with that of a German living today? What aspects can reveal parallels between one of the most significant artists of our age and an unconventional sixteenth-century Venetian master?
The exhibition entitled Baselitz X Schiavone is the first in a series of shows at the Collection of Prints and Drawings intended to reinforce the dialogue between contemporary artworks and those by old masters. This exhibition focuses on the works of Georg Baselitz, who turns 85 this year: in 2020, on the 150th anniversary of the Collection of Prints and Drawings, the artist generously donated thirty large prints to the museum 鈥� a selection of these will now be shown to the public for the first time. To accompany Baselitz, we have chosen Andrea Schiavone, a sixteenth-century Italian master who is linked in multiple ways to the contemporary German artist, who started collecting the Italian鈥檚 etchings in the 1960s. For this show, Baselitz loaned one of his paintings made in 2011, that he has selected specifically for this occasion. The painting鈥檚 richly linear visuality makes it the perfect complement to his own prints and to Schiavone鈥檚 etchings alike.
Baselitz and Schiavone were both fundamentally painters who took an avid interest in printmaking. There are many similarities in their thinking about the genre and in how their uniquely innovative attitude towards the creation of images is manifested in their works on paper. One of the key factors that inspired this exhibition was yet another major point of connection between them: Georg Baselitz, besides being one of the most eminent artists of our times, is also a collector with an extraordinary taste for mannerist prints, who has built up a first-rate collection of such works. He has more than eighty sheets by Andrea Schiavone in his possession. As Baselitz himself explained concerning our exhibition, 鈥淪chiavone used the etching technique in a very undisciplined and immensely experimental way, which resulted in unusual, avant-garde plates and sheets.鈥�
Our exhibition offers insight into the works on paper of two artists who were active in two different ages, presenting sheets held by the Collection of Prints and Drawings at the Museum of Fine Arts. Visitors will now have the chance to see more than twenty large prints by Baselitz, and around thirty by Schiavone, which are on a much smaller scale. The majority of the pieces by both artists are being displayed to the public for the first time. When selecting the works, we concentrated on the use of irregular forms: most of the pieces on display feature full-length or half-length figures, close-ups of parts of the body, paired portraits, or multi-figural scenes.
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What links an artist from contemporary Germany with one from sixteenth-century Venice? Can there even be a connection between two creative minds almost five hundred years apart? Can two masters affected by completely different social and cultural influences share similarities in approach? Is it possible to compare the work of an Italian mannerist with that of a German living today? What aspects can reveal parallels between one of the most significant artists of our age and an unconventional sixteenth-century Venetian master?
The exhibition entitled Baselitz X Schiavone is the first in a series of shows at the Collection of Prints and Drawings intended to reinforce the dialogue between contemporary artworks and those by old masters. This exhibition focuses on the works of Georg Baselitz, who turns 85 this year: in 2020, on the 150th anniversary of the Collection of Prints and Drawings, the artist generously donated thirty large prints to the museum 鈥� a selection of these will now be shown to the public for the first time. To accompany Baselitz, we have chosen Andrea Schiavone, a sixteenth-century Italian master who is linked in multiple ways to the contemporary German artist, who started collecting the Italian鈥檚 etchings in the 1960s. For this show, Baselitz loaned one of his paintings made in 2011, that he has selected specifically for this occasion. The painting鈥檚 richly linear visuality makes it the perfect complement to his own prints and to Schiavone鈥檚 etchings alike.
Baselitz and Schiavone were both fundamentally painters who took an avid interest in printmaking. There are many similarities in their thinking about the genre and in how their uniquely innovative attitude towards the creation of images is manifested in their works on paper. One of the key factors that inspired this exhibition was yet another major point of connection between them: Georg Baselitz, besides being one of the most eminent artists of our times, is also a collector with an extraordinary taste for mannerist prints, who has built up a first-rate collection of such works. He has more than eighty sheets by Andrea Schiavone in his possession. As Baselitz himself explained concerning our exhibition, 鈥淪chiavone used the etching technique in a very undisciplined and immensely experimental way, which resulted in unusual, avant-garde plates and sheets.鈥�
Our exhibition offers insight into the works on paper of two artists who were active in two different ages, presenting sheets held by the Collection of Prints and Drawings at the Museum of Fine Arts. Visitors will now have the chance to see more than twenty large prints by Baselitz, and around thirty by Schiavone, which are on a much smaller scale. The majority of the pieces by both artists are being displayed to the public for the first time. When selecting the works, we concentrated on the use of irregular forms: most of the pieces on display feature full-length or half-length figures, close-ups of parts of the body, paired portraits, or multi-figural scenes.
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