German painter and sculptor Georg Baselitz, a major figure in contemporary art, died on April 30, 2026, at age 88. Born Hans-Georg Kern in 1938 near Dresden, he created a singular body of work over six decades, marked by violent, provocative painting and his radical 1969 inversion of motifs, which upended representational conventions.
Baselitz's death closes a chapter on one of neo-expressionism's defining figures. His work, which grappled with German history, memory, and the body, challenged viewers and influenced generations of artists. His legacy lies in his relentless questioning of imagery and its conventions, from his early marginalization to international acclaim.