Anselm Kiefer
German
1945, Donaueschingen, Germany
Anselm Kiefer grew up in postwar West Germany amid the rubble of World War II. His newly divided country was in a state of identity crisis, lacking foundational myths or symbols untainted by the Nazis' pathological nationalism. Kiefer initially studied law to learn about codes of human behavior, fully intending to become an artist. By the 1970s, he began to develop his best-known works: massive, heavily encrusted paintings of shattered landscapes devoid of people. His art draws upon a range of traditions —including ancient Egyptian mythology, biblical stories, Jewish mysticism, and modern astronomy — in the attempt to construct a new symbolic system with broad human relevance. Kiefer is currently active in the south of France, where he has lived since 1993.
Audio Stories
What does Germany’s troubled history mean for Kiefer?
transcripts
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Works in the Collection
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Anselm KieferDem unbekannten Maler (To the Unknown Painter)
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Anselm KieferDie Frauen der Revolution (Women of the Revolution)
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Anselm KieferSulamith
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Anselm KieferDer Rhein (The Rhine)
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Anselm KieferDie Meistersinger (The Mastersingers)
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Anselm KieferMargarethe
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Anselm KieferWege der Weltweisheit: die Hermannsschlacht (Ways of Worldly Wisdom: Arminius's Battle)
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Anselm KieferUnternehmen Seelöwe (Operation Sea Lion)
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Anselm KieferWölundlied (Wayland's Song)
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Anselm KieferWege: märkischer Sand (Ways: March Sand)
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Anselm KieferDas Museum (The Museum)
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Anselm KieferMaria durch den Dornwald ging (When Mary Went Through the Thorn-Forest)
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Anselm KieferDaath
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Anselm KieferEuphrat/Tigris
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Anselm KieferEntfaltung der Sefirot (Unfolding of the Sephirot)
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Anselm KieferMelancholia
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Anselm KieferUnternehmen Seelöwe (Operation Sea Lion)
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Anselm KieferSeraphim
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Anselm KieferDie Sechste Posaune (The Sixth Trumpet)
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Anselm KieferDie Geburt der Sonne (The Birth of the Sun)
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