Georg Baselitz was born in 1938 in Kamenz-Deutschbaselitz, Germany, is a pioneering painter known for his distinctive upside-down subjects and figures. Baselitz played a pivotal role in the emergence of New European Painting, responding to the enduring impact of World War II and reshaping German art in the post-war era. His influential career spans over six decades, beginning in the 1960s. Since 1969, Baselitz has challenged artistic norms by painting his pictures upside down. However, he has never confined himself to a single style or become predictable. He continually rejuvenates his practice through formal innovations and diverse art historical influences while maintaining his unique and unmistakable voice.

Baselitz masterfully straddles the line between figuration and abstraction. His upside-down approach seeks to strip forms of their conventional meaning, breathing new life into a medium that was thought to be fading. Alongside artists like Anselm Kiefer and Gerhard Richter, he revitalised figurative painting, infusing it with tactile intensity and a profound appreciation for the sensuous nature of paint itself, even experimenting with finger-painting techniques in the 1970s.