Fir Tree (Tanne)

Exhibition label: Baselitz often depicts fir trees - abundant both in German forests and traditional German Romantic landscapes - in order to highlight his art's northern roots. In the work of Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840), for instance, evergreen trees are central to conveying a transcendental vision of nature. In 1985 a visitor to Baselitz's studio noted that a reproduction of a picture of pine trees by Friedrich was tacked to the wall.