German Post-War master Anselm Kiefer
Anselm Kiefer's "Aurora" (2015-17). Oil, emulsion, acrylic, shellac, and sediment of an electrolysis on canvas. 110 1/4 × 149 5/8 × 3 5/8 inches.
One of the world's most important living artists, and perhaps Germany's greatest post-war artist, Anselm Kiefer has used painting and sculpture to evoke landscapes that are a fusion of decay and rebirth - art that is currently featured in exhibitions in Philadelphia and New York City.
By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan
Anselm Kiefer
Anselm Kiefer was born in 1945 in Germany, in the bombed-out wreckage of World War II. But where most saw ruins, the young Kiefer saw raw material for creation.
"It was not a devastating experience; for me, it was fantastic," he told CBS News' Liz Palmer, at his studio in Paris. "I had all the bricks, all the debris. I could do what I wanted as a little boy. So, I liked it."
From "Occupations"
Kiefer shot to fame as a subversive young art student with a photo series called "Occupations" - pictures of himself giving the Nazi salute. It was controversial, and illegal. But the point, he says, was to confront Germany's silence on its Nazi past. "We never spoke at home about that, you know?" he said. "In school, we had, I think, 10 days about the Nazis and, like, 10 days about Alexander the Great. And I felt really that there is something underneath, you know? Something heavy and horrible underneath."
Anselm Kiefer's "Occupations," 1969, in Interfunktionen no. 12, 1975, Cologne. Black-and-white photograph, page 144. Private collection.
Political Art
Robin Vousden, a Director of Gagosian based in London, told Liz Palmer that for years Germany wasn't ready for Kiefer, because of a reluctance to discuss the nation's history with Nazism, but that the artist's work was accepted in America and Israel.
"In the mid-'70s, the silence that said, 'Well, we won't talk about war, will we?' Well, Kiefer said, 'Yes, we will!' And both an American audience and an audience in Israel accepted and appreciated that and the courage of it and the dignity of it and the sense of moral responsibility," Vousden said.
"The Waves of Sea and Love"
Kiefer's art has since veered away from politics. His more recent work includes giant canvases, with peeling lead - a central idea for the artist being the cycle of decay and renewal.
Anselm Kiefer's "Des Meeres und der Liebe Wellen (The Waves of Sea and Love)" (2017). Oil, emulsion, acrylic, and lead on canvas. 74 7/8 × 149 5/8 × 17 inches.
"For Segantini: The Bad Mothers"
Anselm Kiefer's "For Segantini: die bösen Mütter (For Segantini: The Bad Mothers)" (2011-12). Oil, emulsion, acrylic, shellac, wood, metal, lead, and sediment of an electrolysis on canvas. 110 1/4 × 181 1/8 × 21 5/8 inches.
"Aurora"
"Aurora" (2013) by Anselm Kiefer. Watercolor on paper. 28 x 20 1/8 inches.
"The Feminine Ecstasies"
Anselm Kiefer's "Les extases féminines (The Feminine Ecstasies)" (2013). Watercolor on paper. 65 3/4 × 60 5/8 inches.
"The Evening of All Days, the Day of All Evenings"
Anselm Kiefer's "Aller Tage Abend, aller Abende Tag (The Evening of All Days, the Day of All Evenings)" (2014). Watercolor on paper. 42 1/8 x 29 3/4 inches.
Anselm Kiefer Retrospective
A gallery assistant stands next to "Ash Flower 1983-1987" by Anselm Kiefer, part of a major 2014 exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.
"Ignis sacer"
"Ignis sacer" (2016) by Anselm Kiefer. Oil, acrylic, and emulsion on canvas. 110 1/4 × 149 5/8 × 3 5/8 inches.
"The Painter's Studio"
Anselm Kiefer's "Des Malers Atelier (The Painter's Studio)" (2016). Oil, emulsion, acrylic, and shellac on canvas. 110 1/4 × 149 5/8 × 2 inches.
In the Studio
Anselm Kiefer at his home/studio in Paris, in what used to be a department store warehouse.
In the Studio
Even after completing an oil painting, it is never really finished. As Kiefer explained, "Every day, I have to go [past my paintings] to go in my studio. And then sometimes I stay and I look; 'Let's bring it down and change it.'"
"Changing it" sometimes means pouring molten lead onto the canvas.
In the Studio
Molten lead is applied.
In the Studio
Kiefer may peel off fragments or layers of the lead.
Peeled Lead
The resulting work evinces not only layers of art, but layers of history.
Peeled Lead
A peeling Kiefer artwork.
"Walhalla"
A view of "Walhalla," an exhibition of works by German artist Anselm Kiefer, White Cube, London, November 21, 2016.
"Transition From Cool to Warm"
A view from the exhibition "Anselm Kiefer: Transition From Cool to Warm," May 5-July 14, 2017, at Gagosian in New York City.
"Transition From Cool to Warm"
A view from the exhibition "Anselm Kiefer: Transition From Cool to Warm," May 5-July 14, 2017, at Gagosian in New York City.
"Schlange (Snake)"
"Schlange (Snake)" (2017) by Anselm Kiefer, Oil, emulsion, acrylic, shellac, gold leaf, clay, and metal on canvas. 149 5/8 × 110 1/4 × 9 7/8 inches.
"Kiefer Rodin"
Kiefer's paintings and sculptures feature in many of the finest art collections in the world. Currently, his work is part of a joint exhibition at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia with the great sculptor Auguste Rodin.
"Kiefer Rodin"
An installation view of the exhibition "Kiefer Rodin" (2017) at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.
"Kiefer Rodin"
An installation view of the exhibition "Kiefer Rodin" (2017) at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.
For more info:
Kiefer Rodin, at the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia (through March 12, 2018)
Anselm Kiefer at Gagosian
Anselm Kiefer at ArtNet
Provocations: Anselm Kiefer, at The Met Breuer, New York City (through April 8, 2018)