VENICE.- A major exhibition by the internationally acclaimed artist Georg Baselitz will be the first show to be presented by a living artist in the exhibition galleries at the Gallerie dell' Accademia in Venice opening in May 2019, during the 58th Venice Art Biennale. Curated by Professor Kosme de Barañano and conceived specifically for the museum, the exhibition will include paintings, drawings and sculptures from the artist’s remarkable sixty-year career.

Georg Baselitz said: "I am delighted to have been asked to present my work at the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice next year. I have known the city and museum well for many years and I look forward to working with Kosme de Barañano to present a show that we hope will offer something different."

Kosme de Barañano said: "Georg Baselitz is one of the most significant artists of the second part of the 20th century. He establishes the critique of painting not by stripping it bare, but rather by attacking the convention itself. We are excited to be working together again. He has visited, and has kept a studio in Italy for a long time, and the exhibition will reflect how Italy has impacted his work over the years.”

Paola Marini, Director of the Gallerie dell' Accademia, said: “After the successful exhibition of Philip Guston in 2017, we are delighted to present the work of Georg Baselitz next year in order to continue to show the work of a living master, whose oeuvre has been deeply influenced by the encounter with the history of Italian art found at the Gallerie.”

The exhibition will be supported by Gagosian and a fully illustrated catalogue will be published.

Georg Baselitz was born in Deutschbaselitz in 1938. He lives and works in Germany and Italy. He has exhibited extensively internationally including his most recent highly acclaimed exhibitions at the Fondation Beyeler and the Kunstmuseum in Basel.