Baselitz on Munch: Expressionism as Inner Mutilation

In a video interview, German painter Georg Baselitz (b. 1938) discusses the profound influence of Edvard Munch (1863–1944) on his work. Baselitz first encountered Munch's art through a calendar of reproductions found in his father's library. He identifies a shared focus on psychological and psychoanalytic dimensions, emphasizing the correspondence between bodily and spiritual illness—a kind of inner mutilation. Baselitz explains that a certain drawing style can reveal that something is wrong. He also notes Munch's refusal to communicate or collaborate with the Nazis, despite their interest in his work, contrasting with the fate of much Expressionist art, which was labeled degenerate and often destroyed.