The best early works of Germany's art rebels

In 1966 Baselitz began to create his so-called fracture paintings, whose motifs seem to have been rearranged from various parts of a tattered photograph. The artist wanted to give the viewer the feeling of injustice and vulnerability, as in this painting from 1967.

This work by Sigmar Polke from 1966 is one of the rare early matrix images by the artist. The stylistic device, similar to methods used in print pixels, also influenced works of American artists Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. It became characteristic of Polke's later works.

This work comes from the series of so-called loft paintings, which have biblical and mythological motifs. Painted in 1973, "Faith, Hope, Love" features brown tones that are typical of this group of works. The title is inscribed in the middle of the picture, a characteristic of many of Kiefer's pieces.

Richter left East Germany in 1961, shortly before the Berlin wall was built. The painting "Cow II" from 1965 was painted when he was living in West Germany. It is part of a series of images that have been central parts of Richter's oeuvre since 1962.

As a reaction to the conflicting artistic dogmas in East and West over formal illustration and abstraction, Baselitz decided to turn his images upside down. It was an ingenious trick and helped him develop a unique theme, which he continued to explore in his later work. "The Forest on its Head" was painted in 1969.

In 1965-66, Polke chose a small newspaper photograph clipping for "Girlfriends" — a raster image, or image made of matrix dots. Polke created his own style through shifting half-tone dots. In doing so, he transforms advertising into an artistic message and thus changes the perception of the two bathing ladies.

At age 20 Anselm Kiefer photographed himself making the Hitler salute for the first time in order to paint the scene later. As a young art student, he noticed how a fascination with totalitarianism and with the figures of Mao and Lenin surrounded him at university, and he responded to it in his art. Kiefer explained that he wanted to experience the forbidden gesture physically.

In addition to politically charged images, such as those relating to the rearmament of Germany, Gerhard Richter often focused on everyday scenes in his early work in the 60s. This motif came from a black and white photography. Richter projected a slide of the image into canvas, painted it and glazed it in pink.