Between 1972 and 1975, Georg Baselitz completed a small but significant series of larg-scale self-portraits in the nude. His work on paper „Dreieck zwischen Arm und Rumpf“ refers tot hat group and also incorporates the motif of the eagle's wing, which featured in the artist's oeuvre in the previous two years. In the present work, the artist has surrendered the central postioning of the figure, thrusting it to the side. As a result, the image of the wing, the 'triangle' of the title, is given that much more attention with its dominating blue colour, stressing Baselitz's wish that the formal properties of the painting, and not the image or motif, become the primary focus of the viewer's attention. What results is a clever juxtaposition of abstraction and figuration, conceptualism and expressionism, form and colour.
Baselitz explains: "I decided in 1969, or from 1969 onwards, to dispense with narrative and content and deal only with things that painting normally uses: the landscape, the nude, the portrait, the still-life and so forth. That is a decision which defines a certain path and has a constricting effect. But in terms of the overall image, I think it pays off."
