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Local News Summary of January, 18th

  • Peeling the orange: A Baselitz painting is unpacked at the Beyeler Foundation

Peeling the orange: A Baselitz painting is unpacked at the Beyeler Foundation

A series of famous paintings by German Neo-Expressionist painter Georg Baselitz has arrived at the Beyeler Foundation. Barfi.ch was present as one of these works was unpacked and found that the preparation for an exhibition is more complex than one might think.

From Sunday, works by Baselitz – one of the most famous contemporary artists – will be exhibited at the foundation in Riehen. Since creating “The Wood On Its Head” in 1969, Baselitz has painted his canvases upside down, which has made them equally famous and recognisable. Barfi.ch was at the Foundation before the exhibition opening to witness how one of the last paintings (the “Orange Eater”, from the early 1980s) was unpacked. And although we had no idea what the finished exhibition will look like, we could nethertheless catch an interesting look behind the scenes.

 

Sliding vehicle and special tools

Once an exhibition is up and running, nobody sees how much work needs to be done to get all the paintings hanging on the walls with their little signs. The preparations for the Baselitz exhibition took almost two weeks. It is an intricate process involving countless workers. Many use a sliding vehicle and special tools for their tasks; there are a lot of phone calls going back and forth, as well as meetings. For all the professionalism at work, there is still a bit of chaos once all the boxes are unpacked. Many of them do not reveal which precious painting they contain until they are opened. Barfi.ch is not allowed to show their contents to our readers – anything that isn’t called the “Orange Eater” will remain a secret until the exhibition opens.

 

In a box, all paintings are the same

After it has been carefully removed from its padded box, the painting from the “Orange Eater” series is put on a special table. This table bears more than a passing resemblance to a surgical table. On it, the last pieces of bubble wrap are carefully peeled away as if it were an orange itself. How does it feel to have such a precious object (one painting in this series costs about 1 million Swiss francs) in your hands? The two workers shrug their shoulders. They do not think about the value of the paintings – which is better for their concentration, they say.

After the painting has been freed from various layers of packaging, a conservator inspects its surface with a torch and retro-futurist magnifying glasses. She is holding a printed out copy of the “Orange Eater” in one hand to make comparisons if necessary.

After a few minutes, the inspection is finished: Everything is fine. This is somehow astonishing, as the painting’s surface has a crumbly and bumpy surface because of Baselitz’ rough brushstrokes. Exhibition curator, Martin Schwander, is however not concerned. “We hardly have to worry about things falling off,” he said. His assurance is however not based alone on improved methods of conservation and the treatment of paintings. “In the early works of some artists, such decay may still occur. For example, if the artist – like Baselitz – started out poor and had to save money when buying paint.” Emerging young artists could profit from cheap industrial paints, but they consequently also created paintings that began to crumble a few decades later. Thankfully, the “Orange Eater”, from 1981, is not one of these works.

 

Specialisation of a job category

Mr Schwander also knows that the transportation of art is a different story nowadays – compared to previous decades, where the janitor might have picked up the package and then put it into a corner and it wasn’t found until the next day. Museums have to maintain their good reputation with artists and lenders – without their help, there would be no exhibitions. This is why trained painting conservators, who know the paintings down to the last detail, are present when artworks are delivered. They are also the ones who make an immediate decision if there is a problem.

“The Beyeler Foundation would never make a decision on a painting without a prior consultation,” the curator explains as he observes the unpacking process. “These days, there are more professional people involved, and everything is also documented in a better manner,” Mr Schwander says, while holding a piece of paper containing details about the origin and condition of the painting. The art of transportating paintings and other works of art has become very sophisticated. The workers who unpack and hang the paintings are also specialists – “Art Handlers” is the official term for their profession. Following the approval of the painting conservator and the curator, they hang the last work in a series of three, between the other two.

 

A good eye for adjustments

Martin Schwander then closes one eye and tries to find the middle: “Can we move it to the right by one millimetre, just a tiny little bit?” Three pairs of eyes blink and take measurements. Despite all the technology available on the modern art scene, hanging a painting is still a matter of personal judgment. The “Art Handlers” clarify things: Hardly any picture frame is completely straight, and the mounts on the back are also never entirely level.

The “Orange Eater” has mounts made from twisted wire, which may well have expanded or unspooled after so many years. “This is an inevitable fact for many paintings,” Mr Schwander says. Therefore, compromises and hidden duct tape are standard. Every do-it-yourself enthusiast knows the problem: Once the screw has been put in the wrong place on a wall, you cannot simply move it by a few millimetres. But here, everything fits. One or two adjustments by the eye are enough, and after some drilling, the painting hangs perfectly and without any problems. The Beyeler Foundation staff have an eye for these things – unlike many of us, as anyone with crooked posters on their living room walls can attest.

The “Georg Baselitz” exhibition is open from 21January until 29 April at the Beyeler Foundation. The painter himself will give an artist’s talk on the exhibition on 16 February in the museum.