Artists Respond to History

Working from both personal experience and deep research, artists around the globe seek answers—or at least solace—in their responses to turbulent historical conditions such as war, apartheid, censorship, and totalitarianism.

Artist Anselm Kiefer in the SFMOMA galleries with one of his large, dark, textural paintings on the wall behind him.

Anselm Kiefer: History is a clay

Photographer Keizo Kitajima in his studio

Keizo Kitajima in the former USSR

Photographer Hiromi Tsuchida sitting in front of a white curtain

Hiromi Tsuchida: Documenting Japan’s past and present

A black and white photograph of a line of motorcyclists

Daido Moriyama on social rebellion in 1960s Japan

An explosion of light on a forest floor

An-My Lê: Landscapes of war

In Boksburg, David Goldblatt photographs the reality of apartheid

Lamia Joreige maps Beirut’s tumultuous past and future

Anselm Kiefer: An artist is “outside of the world”