“Adler” (Eagle): A unique compendium featuring 87 “Adler” watercolors
The eagle is among the key motifs in Georg Baselitz’s work. Since the early 1970s, it has been the central symbol of his oeuvre—archaic, majestic, unmistakable. In brilliant cobalt blue, with bold brushstrokes, and that blend of primal power and painterly freedom that distinguishes Baselitz’s eagle from every other visual symbol in post-war art. Iconographically charged, the “eagle”, symbolizing freedom and strength, embodies a complex symbolism that spans from antiquity to the present day, from the dramatic story of Prometheus, a popular theme in Baroque art, to the political present with the eagle as the German national symbol. An enormous wealth of meaning that certainly also contains biographical references; while he was still a student, Baselitz left the GDR in the late 1950s to continue his artistic career in West Germany. Today, works from this period rank among his most sought-after pieces. Watercolors from this group fetch high five-figure prices, while large-format eagle paintings sell for several million euros.
What emerged in 1977 was something different—and something bigger. Not a single watercolor. Not just a few. 87 watercolors at once, created in a single concerted artistic act, a cohesive series, a creative process that evolves from sheet to sheet, culminating in a unique artistic Gesamtkunstwerk: Nearly 100 eagle sheets, each an original work executed spontaneously and masterfully, some in a vibrant blue, some bicolored, and some additionally accented with a blue marker, each unique and of exceptional quality. All of them date from the peak of Baselitz’s international breakthrough and possess a captivating spontaneity and immediacy that could only have been achieved in that singular moment. A compendium of this caliber—in terms of quality, quantity, and conceptual coherence—is unparalleled in Baselitz’s oeuvre.

“Eagle” upside down: Baselitz’s artistic trademark over Expressionism, Dada, and Constructivism.
But it is not just the quantity that makes this collection extraordinary. It is the medium on which Baselitz painted. In 1977, Kornfeld & Klipstein offered its famous “Documentation Library on 20th-Century Art” at auction for the sixth and last time. This auction series, a pioneering achievement in avant-garde bibliography launched in 1957, was curated by Hans Bolliger, the leading expert in the field. Previous auctions in this series included, among others, parts of the library of the Dadaist rebel Tristan Tzara. The 1977 catalog was dedicated to the extensive art library of Helmut Anton Krätz, which had been compiled with great expertise and enthusiasm for the key positions and trends of Modernism and comprises top-quality illustrated books on Surrealism, Dadaism, and the European avant-garde: First editions and bibliophile gems featuring texts and illustrations from Wassily Kandinsky’s famous Blue Rider Almanac (1912), as well as significant publications on Futurism, Dadaism, and Constructivism. This catalog provides a comprehensive overview, serving as an encyclopedic compendium of the collective knowledge of the European avant-garde and the most significant artistic endeavors of the first half of the 20th century. Baselitz's eagle now appears on each of these pages: “Eagle over Duchamp,” “Eagle over Kandinsky,” “Eagle over Kirchner.” Baselitz's iconic eagle enters into dialog with the great masters of the European avant-garde. Each page has its distinct tone thanks to the printed text below it; what they share, however, is the art-historical dimension, which Baselitz defines as the foundation of his work—a body of work that is still as significant as ever. Without all these radical and bold positions of Modernism, Baselitz’s free painting, which turns all conventions “upside down,” would not have been possible. “Adler” is to be understood not only as a highly personal tribute to his extremely knowledgeable patron and collector Helmut Anton Krätz—who, among others, amassed an impressive collection of key works of contemporary art, including numerous pieces by Baselitz, but also as an homage to the founding fathers of Modernism, to every radical and nonconformist innovator, to distinctive artistic personalities whom Baselitz regards as the decisive foundation of his own work.


Baselitz and the Krätz Collection: Who did Baselitz paint 87 eagles for?
In the 1960s and 1970s, Helmut Anton Krätz was one of the most influential and visionary collectors of contemporary art. He recognized potential that others failed to see. At a time when Baselitz, Richter, and Polke were virtually unknown to the international art world, Krätz acquired their major works. The Sotheby’s catalogs for the collection’s 1991 and 1999 auctions in New York read like a “Who’s Who” of postwar art: Gerhard Richter’s “Mustang Series” (1964), today at the Galerie Neue Meister in the Albertinum in Dresden; Baselitz’s “Ludwig Richter auf dem Weg zur Arbeit” (Ludwig Richter on His Way to Work, 1965), today at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, or Baselitz` painting "Schlafzimmer" (Bedroom, 1975), alongside significant works by Sigmar Polke, A.R. Penck, Blinky Palermo, Joseph Beuys, Dan Flavin, Sol LeWitt, Andy Warhol, and Joseph Kosuth. Krätz was not only a collector—he was a close confidant and enthusiastic patron of many artists. He maintained a close personal relationship with Baselitz; in 1975, the Krätz family even rented an apartment in Baselitz’s Derneburg Castle, which is now home to the internationally renowned Hall Art Foundation. When Krätz died unexpectedly at the age of 47 in 1978, just one year after this work was created, he left behind one of the most significant Baselitz collections ever assembled.


The fascinating watercolor compendium “Adler” is part of this unique context: Baselitz painted nearly 100 pages of the auction catalog dedicated to the library of his close friend and collector, thereby creating a captivating testament to his extraordinary love of art and profound expertise, and personally sending the book to Krätz. He painted the cover opaque with gouache and scratched the word “Adler”—both title and signature—into the wet paint. The original shipping packaging is fully preserved and bears handwritten notes by Baselitz, attesting to the immediacy of this gesture even today. What remains is a unique object that unites painterly expression and script, tradition and progress, art history and the creative act, with an exceptional provenance and personal history.


Seamless. From the studio to the present day
Since its creation in 1977, the compendium “Adler” was initially owned by Helmut Anton Krätz and passed to the family after his death. Even when parts of the rest of the collection were auctioned at Sotheby’s in New York in 1991 and again in 1999, fetching spectacular prices, the “Adler” watercolor book, which links the collector’s expertise with the mastery of his artist friend, remained in the family. It was simply too personal, too unique to let go. Nearly fifty years after its creation, this captivating Gesamtkunstwerk is now on public display for the first time as part of our grand anniversary auction. [JS]