Georg Baselitz reveals his meditations on national history

At White Cube, Georg Baselitz reveals his meditations on personal and national history.

A neo-expressionist who confronted Nazism and its legacy, Baselitz's chief strategy was to paint his imagery upside down.

The eagle, a symbol of strength co-opted by the Nazis yet still on the German coat of arms, dominates eight near-identical paintings, wings lofted and talons stretched. But in Baselitz's world, the bird is in freefall, its impotence only emphasised in repetition.