Anselm Kiefer
Anselm Kiefer is a prominent German artist known for his profound exploration of history, memory, and identity through various mediums, including painting, sculpture, and mixed media. Born in 1945 in Donaueschingen, Germany, Kiefer's childhood was marked by the destruction of World War II, which deeply influenced his artistic vision. His education began with law but shifted to art under notable figures like Peter Dreher and Joseph Beuys, leading him to develop a unique style that often incorporates layered materials and text.
Kiefer's works frequently address themes of loneliness, trauma, and the complexities of Germany's past, particularly its role in the Holocaust. He is recognized for infusing his art with elements from different historical periods, creating a dialogue between creation and destruction. Throughout his career, Kiefer has produced large-scale installations that challenge viewers to confront uncomfortable truths about history. He has also embraced book art, using lead and organic materials, reflecting on mutability and the cycles of existence. His impact has been acknowledged through numerous exhibitions worldwide, including significant displays in New York, Paris, and at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Kiefer continues to reside in France, where he maintains an active studio practice, blending his personal narrative with broader historical inquiries in his art.
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Subject Terms
Anselm Kiefer
Artist
- Born: March 8, 1945
- Place of Birth: Place of birth: Donaueschingen, Germany
Education: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Freiburg; Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Karlsruhe; Staatliche Kunstakademie, Düsseldorf
Significance: Anselm Kiefer grew up in a Germany that sought to bury the horrors of its past and forge a new world identity. His art reflects the persistent presence of history.
Background
Anselm Kiefer was born in Donaueschingen in Germany’s Black Forest two months before the Allies formally accepted Nazi Germany’s surrender to end World War II. The town was a frequent target because it was a rail hub and home to a military base. On March 8, 1945, the day of Kiefer’s birth, the house next door to his family’s home was bombed. Kiefer later said he grew up playing in rubble and credited the bricks and concrete of his childhood for creating his fascination with ruins.
Kiefer briefly studied law at Albert-Ludwigs-Universität in Freiburg in 1965. The following year, he changed his focus and studied art under Peter Dreher. In 1969, he studied at the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Karlsruhe with Horst Antes. The following year, he transferred to Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where he found inspiration in the work of Joseph Beuys. Beuys explored history through myths, symbols, and other means. Kiefer embarked upon his own journey of exploration. He traveled through France, Italy, and Switzerland, where he photographed a number of self-portraits. In this Occupations series, he wore military uniforms and gave the Nazi salute. One image, in which he faces the sea, evokes a painting by Caspar David Friedrich. This visual crossroads, where the nineteenth century, 1930s, and 1960s converge, is an early example of the artist’s efforts to layer history through his work and visually overlap various times.
He had his first solo exhibition in 1969 in Karlsruhe at the Galerie am Kaiserplatz. He continued to occasionally study with Beuys for several years and worked largely in Germany. He later set up workspace in Buchen in a former brick factory.
Life’s Work
Through works such as Winterlandschaft (Winter Landscape) and Man in the Forest, both 1970, Kiefer focused on loneliness and pain. Winterlandschaft depicts a snowy field, dotted with red splotches that mirror the red throat below a face in the sky. His other works in this decade include a series of large canvases in his attic, which represents his mind. He also began adding text to his images, which aid the viewer in understanding the greater context.
By the 1980s, Kiefer was literally layering his work. His works Margarete (1981) and Nuremberg (1982) are early examples of the way the artist added materials to his paintings. He added straw to both works, which reference the harsh treatment of Jews under Nazi control. In 1992, he moved to the south of France. He transferred seventy trucks full of materials from his German studios to La Ribaute, a 200-acre compound that once held a silk factory. The grounds contained barns, where Kiefer built large sculptures, and greenhouses, in which he constructed seascapes of lead battleships and airplanes.
His interest in architecture continued to manifest itself. He created a number of desert clay structures in 1997. In Your Age and My Age and the Age of the World, for example, is an Egyptian pyramid. He combined his various interests in book format art and plant matter in The Secret Life of Plants (1997). This 6-foot lead-paged book contains images of sunflowers, which Kiefer made using sunflower seeds. He also applied sunflower seeds to paintings in 1998 and 2001.
Kiefer began the first of many artistic books in 1969 and returned to similar mixed-media projects frequently. His early artist’s books often begin with photographs, over which he has layered objects. Later books are larger and consist of lead sheets, over which Kiefer has layered organic matter, minerals, and paint. The artist’s fondness for lead, however, makes these works toxic and prevents anyone from handling them. Lead and other substances held fascination for Kiefer. He said he was deeply interested in the notion of mutability, that the substances of the world are remade over and over, that the atoms around and inside an individual are the same particles that were once part of people long gone, including the villains such as Adolf Hitler.
Kiefer moved to the outskirts of Paris in the twenty-first century. He set up his studio in a former department store warehouse. In 2014, the Royal Academy of Arts in England dedicated space to a Kiefer exhibit. His works included mammoth constructions, including a 17-meter (55-foot) pair of glass cabinets containing a seascape. The work, Velimir Khlebnikov: Fates of Nations: The New Theory of War, was placed outdoors, where viewers could gaze into it from all angles. The exhibition also included the sculpture Ages of the World (2014), which incorporates, among other things, stacks of old canvases. A sprinkling of ashes on the ground below the old paintings hints at Nazi book burning.
The artist exhibited his work in the early and mid-2020s in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Athens, and Paris. In 2024, Kiefer displayed Angel's Fall at his Palazzo Strozzi exhibition. The enormous painting depicts a passage from the Book of Revelation, the battle between the archangel Michael and the rebel angels.
Impact
Kiefer is preoccupied by history and one’s place in it. He has used images from multiple times and places to seek a greater understanding of events. His particular focus is often Germany’s role in World War II and its impact on the country, the world, and individuals. Kiefer is well known for his paintings, sculptures, and mixed-media works, in which he often juxtaposes creation and destruction. In 2023, the German documentary Anselm: Das Rauschen der Zeit, directed by Wim Wenders, was released. It focused on the artist's paintings and sculptures, as well as his life and creative process. Anselm premiered at the seventy-sixth Cannes Film Festival as a special screening.
Personal Life
Kiefer left a wife and children in Germany when he moved to France in 1992. He and his second wife, Austrian photographer Renate Graf, have two children.
Bibliography
Alteveer, Ian. "Anselm Kiefer (Born 1945)." The Met. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oct. 2008. Web. 10 May 2016.
"Anselm Kiefer." Guggenheim. Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Web. 10 May 2016.
"Anselm Kiefer." Royal Academy of Arts. Royal Academy of Arts, n.d. Web. 10 May 2016.
Darwent, Charles. "Anselm Kiefer: ‘The Independent Wants to Know If I am a Nazi!’" Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 10 Oct. 2009. Web. 10 May 2016.
Harris, Gareth. "Anselm Kiefer: The Artist Creating a Monumental Legacy Without Finishing a Painting." The Art Newspaper, 15 Mar. 2024, www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/03/15/anselm-kiefer-interview-palazzo-strozzi-exhibition. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.
Hudson, Mark. "Anselm Kiefer on Life, Legacy, and Barjac: ‘I Have No Style, I’m Not a Brand.’" Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 27 Sept. 2014. Web. 10 May 2016.
Prodger, Michael. "Inside Anselm Kiefer’s Astonishing 200-Acre Art Studio." Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 12 Sept. 2014. Web. 10 May 2016.
Tozzi, Carla. "Anselm Kiefer's Big Exhibition in Florence: a Guide." Domus, 26 Mar. 2024, www.domusweb.it/en/art/gallery/2024/03/26/anselm-kiefers-exhibition-in-florence-a-guide.html. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.