Throughout his life, the internationally famous East German -born artist defied convention: Georg Baselitz , renowned for his expressive, figurative paintings and sculptures, has died on April 30 at the age of 88. When a young and up-and-coming artist is kicked out of an art academy, that could either mean an early end to their career or the beginning of a life on the world stage. The latter happened to Georg Baselitz. In 1956, Hans-Georg Bruno Kern moved from his hometown, Deutschbaselitz in the state of Saxony, to East Berlin to study art. But his career as an art student was short-lived as the 18-year-old refused to work at an industrial site in Rostock — a job that was expected from students in the former communist East Germany. He decided he would rather paint in the style of Pablo Picasso .…