BERLIN -- Willi Sitte, one of East Germany's most eminent artists and a key representative of Communism's preferred socialist realism painting style, has died at 92.

The head of the Willi Sitte Foundation, Hans-Hubert Werner, told German news agency DPA that Sitte died on Saturday morning after a long illness.

Sitte's paintings depicted factory workers or farmers as glamorized ideals of Communist heroes. But also among his famous works are voluptuous, often nude women.

He was the president of East Germany's association of visual artists from 1974 to 1988 and also a member of the ruling party's central committee. After the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and Germany's unification, Sitte was seen in a more controversial light because of his closeness to the Communist regime. -- AP

The law would require businesses to have proper state licensing, prove that their employees are paid and ban staff from living at the spas or sleeping there overnight. Repeat offenders could face penalties up to $25,000. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn has more.  Credit: Newsday/Belisa Morillo, Drew Singh; File Footage

'It's personal to me' The law would require businesses to have proper state licensing, prove that their employees are paid and ban staff from living at the spas or sleeping there overnight. Repeat offenders could face penalties up to $25,000. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn has more.

The law would require businesses to have proper state licensing, prove that their employees are paid and ban staff from living at the spas or sleeping there overnight. Repeat offenders could face penalties up to $25,000. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn has more.  Credit: Newsday/Belisa Morillo, Drew Singh; File Footage

'It's personal to me' The law would require businesses to have proper state licensing, prove that their employees are paid and ban staff from living at the spas or sleeping there overnight. Repeat offenders could face penalties up to $25,000. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn has more.

SUBSCRIBE

Unlimited Digital AccessOnly 25¢for 6 months

ACT NOWSALE ENDS SOON | CANCEL ANYTIME