White Woman
- Date
- 1980
- Material
- Tempera on canvas
- made in
- Florence, Tuscany region, Italy, Europe
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- Modern and Contemporary Art
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 242
- Dimensions
- 130 x 98 5/16 in. (330.2 x 249.7 cm)
framed: 132 x 100 1/2 in. (335.3 x 255.3 cm) - Credit Line
- Funds given by Mrs. Alvin R. Frank, Bruce and Kimberly Olson, and Mr. and Mrs. Thomas K. Langsdorf
- Rights
- © Georg Baselitz 1980
- Object Number
- 7:2003
NOTES
Layers of dark paint create an expressive surface from which an inverted, white figure emerges. Georg Baselitz based the figure on a photograph published in the journal Stern (German for “star”) in 1979 depicting a Russian woman in Germany after World War II. She supervised German women tasked with cleaning up ruined cities. This painting recalls shared memories of Germans who had to construct new lives in the aftermath of the atrocities of the Holocaust and the end of a war that left poverty and destruction in its wake.
Provenance
Galerie Friedrich, Cologne, Germany
by 1990 -
Galerie Springer, Berlin, Germany [1]
by 1991 - still in 1997
Hartmut and Silvia Ackermeier, Berlin, Germany [2]
by 2002 - 2003
Michael Werner Gallery, New York, NY, USA; Cologne, Germany [3]
2003 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Michael Werner Gallery [4]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is an information sheet from Michael Werner Gallery [SLAM document files]. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[1] A 1990 exhibition checklist names Rudolf Springer of Galerie Springer as the lender of "White Woman" ["Georg Baselitz: Bilder aus Berliner Privatbesitz." Berlin: Nationalgalerie, 1990, no. 25].
[2] A 1991 publication on the works of Baselitz in the collection of Hartmut and Silvia Ackermeier includes "White Woman" [Oliva, Achille Bonito, Norman Rosenthal, Harald Szeeman, and Hartmut Ackermeier. "Georg Baselitz: Opere dalla collezione Ackermeier, Berlino." Bergamo: Edizioni Bolis, 1991, no. 20]. In 1996 and 1997, the painting was included in a Paris exhibition; the Ackermeiers were named as owners ["Georg Baselitz." Paris: Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1996, no. 20].
[3] A letter dated May 24, 2002 from Michael Werner Gallery seems to have accompanied the exhibition list and provenance sheet provided by the Gallery [SLAM document files].
[4] Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, March 4, 2003; and the Minutes of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, March 10, 2003.
by 1990 -
Galerie Springer, Berlin, Germany [1]
by 1991 - still in 1997
Hartmut and Silvia Ackermeier, Berlin, Germany [2]
by 2002 - 2003
Michael Werner Gallery, New York, NY, USA; Cologne, Germany [3]
2003 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Michael Werner Gallery [4]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is an information sheet from Michael Werner Gallery [SLAM document files]. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[1] A 1990 exhibition checklist names Rudolf Springer of Galerie Springer as the lender of "White Woman" ["Georg Baselitz: Bilder aus Berliner Privatbesitz." Berlin: Nationalgalerie, 1990, no. 25].
[2] A 1991 publication on the works of Baselitz in the collection of Hartmut and Silvia Ackermeier includes "White Woman" [Oliva, Achille Bonito, Norman Rosenthal, Harald Szeeman, and Hartmut Ackermeier. "Georg Baselitz: Opere dalla collezione Ackermeier, Berlino." Bergamo: Edizioni Bolis, 1991, no. 20]. In 1996 and 1997, the painting was included in a Paris exhibition; the Ackermeiers were named as owners ["Georg Baselitz." Paris: Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1996, no. 20].
[3] A letter dated May 24, 2002 from Michael Werner Gallery seems to have accompanied the exhibition list and provenance sheet provided by the Gallery [SLAM document files].
[4] Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, March 4, 2003; and the Minutes of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, March 10, 2003.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.