Beuys and Baselitz: German Postwar Art in Two New York Shows

Two concurrent exhibitions in New York present contrasting figures of German postwar art. At Gagosian Gallery (980 Madison Avenue), "Joseph Beuys: Jeder Griff Muss Sitzen – Just Hit the Mark" features works from the Speck Collection, on view until February 14. The collection, assembled by Cologne physician and scholar Dr. Reiner Speck from the 1960s until Beuys's death in 1986, includes early figurines, drawings, chalkboards, and iconic objects using fat and felt. Beuys, a former Luftwaffe pilot who claimed to have been rescued by Tartars, used these materials as symbols of healing and trauma. His performances and installations often involved rambling lectures, with chalkboards preserved as drawings. The collection presents a more accessible, even "pretty" side of Beuys, with erotic and enigmatic pieces like "Virgin" (1952), a bandaged doll torso. Around the corner at Michael Werner (4 East 77th Street), "Georg Baselitz: Recent Paintings" runs until February 7. Baselitz, a painter from East Germany who rose to prominence in the 1980s, shows ten paintings from 2000. These works rework drawings the artist made as a teenager in the early 1950s, depicting eagles among mountain peaks—a motif loaded with Nazi iconography. Baselitz's trademark upside-down figures give way to linear variety and painterly delicacy, exploring vulnerability and memory. Both shows reflect on German history and the legacy of expressionism, with Baselitz offering beauty as a means of healing.