Georg Baselitz: Akademie Rousseau

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In the Picasso room at the Kunstmuseum in Basel, a striking painting captures Guillaume Apollinaire alongside his muse, Marie Laurencin, created by Henri Rousseau. Initially, I mistook it for a self-portrait of Rousseau with his own muse, Clémence Rousseau. Franz Marc also portrayed Rousseau for Der Blaue Reiter, while Picasso owned a self-portrait by Rousseau. A poignant photograph by André Gomés shows Picasso holding Rousseau's self-portrait in one hand and the portrait of Rousseau's wife in the other. Picasso, known for his innovative works, admired Rousseau, who depicted familiar objects with a unique rigidity. Rousseau’s gaze in his self-portrait is stiff and focused on his art, presenting objects in a way that feels Gothic and Byzantine, diverging from typical perceptions. Other artists, like Kandinsky, also collected Rousseau's works, including the small canvas The Painter and His Wife. De Chirico depicted Picasso and friends beneath Rousseau's self-portrait, while Beckmann painted Rousseau’s hot-air balloon and street. I have Rousseau’s red lithograph The War, reminiscent of works by Ensor, Uccello, Böcklin, and Stefano della Bella. Recently, I’ve painted numerous portraits of my wife and myself, often dressed as various figures, including my parents and historical icons, echoing the style of Otto Dix’s double portrait of his parents, which can be found in the Basel Kunstmuseum.