The German state of Rhineland-Palatinate has targeted Georg Baselitz as part of a widespread investigation into suspected tax evasion using Swiss bank accounts. Over the weekend, tax investigators searched his villa on Lake Ammersee near Munich, taking several crates of files as evidence.
As Der Spiegel reports, Baselitz may have been tipped off before the raid, since he left for another house he owns on the Ligurian coast in Italy shortly before it took place. When contacted by the magazine, he denied through his secretary owing millions of euros in taxes, though he did not dispute that he is currently being investigated.
For several weeks, German tax investigators have been raiding the homes of suspected tax evaders, using information obtained after several German states struck a deal with an informant to buy a confidential list of Swiss bank account holders for €4 million ($5.2 million). When the investigations are complete, Rhineland-Palatinate hopes to recoup about €500 million ($650 million) in unpaid taxes.
The 75-year-old Baselitz is an art-market star in Germany whose paintings can fetch prices over a million dollars; his auction record, set at Sotheby’s in June 2011, is £3.2 million ($5.1 million). More recently, he has also been known for his sexism, having come under fire for dismissing women artists for failing to pass “the market test.” His own market success may come back to haunt him if the proceeds turn out to have been illegally squirreled away in Switzerland.