Has an instinctive aversion to photography inhibited dissenting artists from producing potentially powerful and exciting art? I look again at the photographs of Anselm Kiefer.
Anselm Kiefer is an intriguing artist for sure. The Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, and the National Gallery in Canberra here In Australia, hold some of his works. However, the most powerful piece of his work I’ve seen was ‘The Morgenthau Plan’ (in the Gagosian, Paris) years’ ago. The gallery was filled with a sculpture of a golden wheat field enclosed in a huge cage. The work referred, of course, to the Plan proposed by the US Treasury in 1944 to de-industrialise post-war Germany, effectively making it impossible for the country to ever wage war again.
It was a deeply moving piece to view, and I thought about it for long time thereafter. Kiefer has a belligerent determination to confront Germany’s history. I wonder what he thinks of Winston Churchill? Thank you so much for such an interesting analysis of Kiefer’s work.
I've seen a few displays of Kiefer's work and I've always got a lot out of it, even if much of it I found difficult or ugly. It's very thought provoking and even beautiful. Kiefer seems to be ambivalent on many of the topics you'd expect a liberal to be clear about. That suggests his political compass might be fairly complex.
In case anyone wants to read more on Kiefer and nationalism, you can find more in my book "Blood, Soil, Paint".
Thanks again for your consistently thoughtful comments, LoS. Wishing you and your family well.
Yes, Kiefer isn’t your typical liberal lefty progressive and he would resent any attempt to label him I’m sure! He’s very prolific, always moving forward whilst still with an eye to the past; I think I read somewhere that he was in the list of Germany’s 100 richest people and families.
Thank you so much for your kind words. Very best wishes as ever to you and yours.
Anselm Kiefer is an intriguing artist for sure. The Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, and the National Gallery in Canberra here In Australia, hold some of his works. However, the most powerful piece of his work I’ve seen was ‘The Morgenthau Plan’ (in the Gagosian, Paris) years’ ago. The gallery was filled with a sculpture of a golden wheat field enclosed in a huge cage. The work referred, of course, to the Plan proposed by the US Treasury in 1944 to de-industrialise post-war Germany, effectively making it impossible for the country to ever wage war again.
It was a deeply moving piece to view, and I thought about it for long time thereafter. Kiefer has a belligerent determination to confront Germany’s history. I wonder what he thinks of Winston Churchill? Thank you so much for such an interesting analysis of Kiefer’s work.
I've seen a few displays of Kiefer's work and I've always got a lot out of it, even if much of it I found difficult or ugly. It's very thought provoking and even beautiful. Kiefer seems to be ambivalent on many of the topics you'd expect a liberal to be clear about. That suggests his political compass might be fairly complex.
In case anyone wants to read more on Kiefer and nationalism, you can find more in my book "Blood, Soil, Paint".
Thanks again for your consistently thoughtful comments, LoS. Wishing you and your family well.
Yes, Kiefer isn’t your typical liberal lefty progressive and he would resent any attempt to label him I’m sure! He’s very prolific, always moving forward whilst still with an eye to the past; I think I read somewhere that he was in the list of Germany’s 100 richest people and families.
Thank you so much for your kind words. Very best wishes as ever to you and yours.