Georg Baselitz - Back Again

There are artists whose work belongs to their time, and artists who seem to exist slightly outside of it. Georg Baselitz was one of them. His paintings never sought to reassure the viewer. They challenged, disturbed and demanded attention, turning the familiar into something strange and forcing us to reconsider what painting could be.

The German artist, who died in April 2026 at the age of 88, left behind one of the most radical and influential bodies of work of the post-war period. His career stretched across more than six decades, during which he continually questioned the conventions of figurative painting, representation and beauty. Now, in London, his final chapter can be encountered through Back Again, the remarkable exhibition presented at White Cube Bermondsey from 10 June to 30 August 2026.

The exhibition is particularly moving because it was among the last projects Baselitz conceived during his lifetime. Seen after his death, the paintings inevitably acquire another dimension. They are no longer simply new works by an established master; they feel like a final conversation between the artist and the subjects that accompanied him throughout his life.

Baselitz's language is unmistakable. Figures are often inverted, bodies appear fragmented, landscapes become unstable and colour can feel almost violently physical. Since the late 1960s, his decision to paint figures upside down became one of the defining gestures of his career. By overturning the image, he wanted the viewer to stop concentrating on what was being represented and instead confront the painting itself — its surface, its movement, its colour and its physical presence.

But behind the apparent brutality of Baselitz's paintings there has always been something deeply human. His work is inseparable from memory, German history, the destruction of the post-war period and the complicated relationship between personal and collective identity. His recurring figures, eagles and portraits are never simply repeated images. They evolve with him, carrying the traces of a lifetime.

In the works presented at White Cube, that sense of time becomes especially powerful. Baselitz returns to familiar motifs while allowing them to become increasingly personal and fragile. Knowing that these paintings were made near the end of his life inevitably changes the way we look at them. The distorted body can suddenly feel like a meditation on ageing; the return to old images becomes a reflection on memory; the physical force of the paint becomes a reminder of the extraordinary persistence of the artist himself.

And yet there is nothing sentimental about the exhibition. Baselitz remained Baselitz until the end: uncompromising, physical and completely devoted to painting.

This is what makes Back Again such an important exhibition. It is not simply an opportunity to see the latest work of a major artist. It allows us to look back across an entire career and understand how consistently Baselitz fought against the expectations placed upon him. He never wanted painting to become comfortable. Even after decades of recognition, he continued to question himself and the medium he had chosen.

For anyone travelling through London, Back Again is one of the exhibitions that deserves to be remembered from the 2026 season. It is a chance to encounter the final works of an artist who changed the possibilities of contemporary painting and, perhaps more importantly, never stopped believing in its power.

Georg Baselitz is gone, but the paintings remain restless.

And that may be the most fitting legacy for an artist who spent his life turning everything upside down.