Anselm Kiefer

1.1. Early Life and Education

Anselm Kiefer was born in Donaueschingen, Germany, on March 8, 1945, just months before the end of World War II. Growing up, he was surrounded by the widespread devastation of the war, as his city had been heavily bombed. In 1951, his family relocated to Ottersdorf, and he attended public school in Rastatt, graduating high school in 1965.

Initially, Kiefer pursued academic studies, enrolling at the University of Freiburg to study pre-law and Romance languages. However, after three semesters, he shifted his focus to art, studying at art academies in Freiburg and Karlsruhe. In Karlsruhe, he was mentored by Peter Dreher, a prominent realist and figurative painter. He continued his art education at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where he studied informally under the influential artist Joseph Beuys. Kiefer received his art degree in 1969, marking the formal beginning of his artistic career.

1.2. Artistic Beginnings

Kiefer began his career with conceptual performances, which he meticulously documented through photographs. Among his most notable early works is the controversial series Besetzungen_Occupations^German and Heroische Sinnbilder_{Heroic Symbols}^German, created in 1969. In these works, Kiefer, who initially performed as a masseur, donned his father's Wehrmacht uniform and mimicked the Nazi salute in various locations across France, Switzerland, and Italy. His intention behind these provocative acts was to compel Germans to remember and acknowledge the profound cultural loss inflicted by the mad xenophobia of the Third Reich.

In 1969, Kiefer presented his first solo exhibition, "Besetzungen (Occupations)," at Galerie am Kaiserplatz in Karlsruhe, which featured this series of photographs alongside other controversial political actions. During this period, his stylistic leanings began to resemble the approach of Georg Baselitz. He also started incorporating fragile and temporary materials like glass, straw, wood, and plant parts into his works, a practice influenced by Joseph Beuys's use of everyday materials. Kiefer was well aware of the ephemeral nature of these materials; he sought to present them in their natural, undisguised form, creating a stark contrast with the often harsh and weighty subject matter of his paintings. This approach was characteristic of the emerging Neo-Expressionist style.

1.3. Career Development and Relocation

Following his artistic beginnings, Kiefer moved to Hornbach, Walldürn, in 1971, where he established his first major studio. He remained in the Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis until 1992, a period known as The German Years, during which his output was prolific. Throughout the 1970s, Kiefer immersed himself in German mythology, incorporating it into his work. In the subsequent decade, he extensively studied Kabbalah and the writings of Qabalists like Robert Fludd. He undertook extended journeys across Europe, the United States, and the Middle East, with his experiences in the latter two regions significantly influencing his artistic direction.

Beyond painting, Kiefer expanded his practice to include sculpture, watercolors, photographs, and woodcuts. He particularly utilized woodcuts to develop a repertoire of figures and motifs that he could consistently re-employ across various media over decades, contributing to the thematic coherence of his complex body of work. By the mid-1980s, Kiefer's thematic scope broadened beyond Germany's role in civilization to encompass the broader fate of art and culture. His works became increasingly sculptural, integrating themes of national identity, collective memory, occult symbolism, theology, and mysticism. The overarching theme across all his work from this period is the trauma experienced by entire societies and the continuous cycle of rebirth and renewal in life. His paintings during the 1980s became more physical, characterized by unusual textures and materials. The range of his themes further expanded to include references to ancient Hebrew and Egyptian history, as seen in works like Osiris and Isis. His paintings of the 1990s, in particular, explored universal myths of existence and meaning rather than solely focusing on national identity. From 1995 to 2001, he produced a significant cycle of large paintings depicting the cosmos.

In 1992, Kiefer made a significant move, relocating his primary residence and studio to Barjac, France. After 2008, he primarily lived and worked in Paris, maintaining a large house in the Marais district.

1.4. Personal Life

Anselm Kiefer is the son of a German art teacher. When he moved to Barjac, France, in 1992, he left his first wife and children in Germany. He later married Renate Graf, an Austrian photographer, with whom he had two children. Kiefer and Graf divorced in 2014. In 2017, the monthly business publication Manager Magazin ranked Kiefer among the 1,001 wealthiest individuals and families in Germany, with an estimated fortune of 700.00 M EUR. In 2018, he was granted Austrian citizenship.

Kiefer's life and creative process have been the subject of public interest and artistic portrayal. He is the central figure in the 3D documentary film Anselm (2023), directed by the acclaimed filmmaker Wim Wenders.

2.1. Major Themes and Influences

Kiefer's art is deeply rooted in a wide array of core subjects and intellectual influences. He generally cites traditional mythology, books, and libraries as his primary sources of inspiration. In his middle years, his work was significantly shaped by literary figures, particularly the poets Paul Celan and Ingeborg Bachmann. Celan's poems, especially "Todesfuge" (Death Fugue), played a crucial role in the development of Kiefer's themes concerning German history and the horrors of the Holocaust.

His later works incorporate themes from Judeo-Christian, ancient Egyptian, and Oriental cultures, which he intricately combines with other motifs. Cosmogony, the study of the origin of the universe, is also a significant focus in his art. Across his entire body of work, Kiefer consistently argues with the past and addresses taboo and controversial issues from recent history. Themes related to Nazi rule are particularly prominent, reflecting his commitment to confronting Germany's difficult past. He searches for the meaning of existence and strives for the "representation of the incomprehensible and the non-representational." Kiefer also draws inspiration from spiritual concepts such as Kabbalah, integrating these esoteric ideas into his complex narratives.

2.2. Artistic Philosophy and Materials

Kiefer's artistic philosophy centers on a deep "spiritual connection" with the materials he employs, believing in "extracting the spirit that already lives within [them]." To achieve this, he subjects his materials to transformative processes, including acid baths and physical blows with sticks and axes.

He frequently selects materials for their alchemical properties, with lead being a particularly favored element. Kiefer's initial fascination with lead began when he had to repair old pipes in his first home. He grew to admire its physical and sensory qualities, subsequently discovering its profound connection to alchemy. He is particularly drawn to how lead appears during heating and melting, revealing a spectrum of colors, especially gold, which he symbolically links to the gold sought by alchemists. He also values the oxidation of white on lead and often artificially induces this process with acid to accelerate it. Lead, in his work, is also associated with alchemical concepts of magic numbers and represents the planet Saturn.

The use of straw in Kiefer's art is another manifestation of his recurring theme of energy. He notes straw's golden color and its release of energy, heat, and warmth when burned. The resulting ash, for Kiefer, signifies new creation, thus echoing motifs of transformation and the continuous cycle of life. Shellac, another material frequently used, resonates with lead in terms of its color and energy potential; Kiefer appreciates how it absorbs energy and becomes warm to the touch when polished.

Kiefer also places significant importance on the balance between order and chaos in his creations, stating that if there is "too much order, [the piece] is dead; or if there is much chaos, it doesn't cohere." Furthermore, he deeply considers the exhibition space for his works, believing that they "lose their power completely" if placed in an unsuitable environment. He acknowledges that the spontaneous nature of his creative process can lead to issues regarding the stability of his works, a concern shared by collectors and curators. However, Kiefer views this change as an inherent part of the artistic process, asserting that the essence of the work ultimately remains the same, a reflection of his fascination with transformation.

2.3. Working Methods and Techniques

Anselm Kiefer employs a diverse range of artistic practices and techniques, encompassing large-scale painting, sculpture, photography, and bookmaking. His paintings are particularly renowned for their monumental scale and the incorporation of various materials such as lead, broken glass, and dried flowers or plants. This results in heavily encrusted surfaces and thick layers of impasto, giving his works a distinct physical presence.

By 1970, while studying informally under Joseph Beuys at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Kiefer's stylistic tendencies began to align with Georg Baselitz's approach. He started working with glass, straw, wood, and plant parts. The deliberate use of these materials meant that his artworks were inherently temporary and fragile, a quality Kiefer consciously embraced. He aimed to showcase these materials in their natural form, without disguise, allowing their inherent properties to contribute to the work's meaning. The fragility of his chosen materials often stands in stark contrast to the stark and weighty subject matter depicted in his paintings. This practice of using familiar, often raw, materials to express complex ideas was significantly influenced by Beuys, who famously incorporated elements like fat and felt into his own works. Kiefer's approach is also typical of the Neo-Expressionist style, and he is considered a representative artist of this tendency alongside American Julian Schnabel.

In addition to his paintings, Kiefer creates sculptures, watercolors, and woodcuts. He notably uses woodcuts to develop a repertoire of figures that he can reuse across various media over decades, contributing to the thematic coherence and interconnectedness of his vast body of work.

3.1. Painting and Sculpture

Kiefer is most widely recognized for his monumental paintings and sculptures, which often incorporate diverse materials to create rich, textured surfaces. His paintings have grown increasingly large in scale, with additions of lead, broken glass, and dried flowers or plants contributing to their encrusted surfaces and thick layers of impasto. Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Kiefer created numerous paintings, watercolors, woodcuts, and books based on themes interpreted by Richard Wagner in his four-opera cycle The Ring of the Nibelung. In the early 1980s, he also produced over thirty paintings, painted photographs, and watercolors that refer in their titles and inscriptions to the Romanian Jewish writer Paul Celan's poem "Todesfuge" ("Death Fugue").

Notable paintings include Margarete^German (oil and straw on canvas), inspired by Paul Celan's poem "Todesfuge". A series of paintings from 1980 to 1983 depict looming stone edifices, referencing examples of National Socialist architecture, particularly buildings designed by Albert Speer and Wilhelm Kreis. For instance, the grand plaza in Dem Unbekannten Maler_{To the Unknown Painter}^German (1983) specifically refers to the outdoor courtyard of Hitler's Reich Chancellery in Berlin. In 1984-85, Kiefer created a series of works on paper that incorporated manipulated black-and-white photographs of desolate landscapes featuring utility poles and power lines, such as Heavy Cloud (1985). These works indirectly responded to the controversy in West Germany during the early 1980s regarding NATO's stationing of tactical nuclear missiles on German soil and the establishment of nuclear fuel processing facilities.

By the mid-1980s, Kiefer's themes broadened to include ancient Hebrew and Egyptian history, exemplified by the large painting Osiris and Isis (1985-87). From 1995 to 2001, he produced a cycle of large paintings depicting the cosmos. Since 2002, Kiefer has worked with concrete, creating towers for the Pirelli warehouses in Milan. He also produced a series of tributes to the Russian Futurist poet Velimir Khlebnikov (2004-2005), which feature paintings of the sea with boats and leaden objects. A return to the work of Paul Celan is evident in a series of paintings featuring rune motifs (2004-2006). His sculptures include powerful, monumental outdoor pieces made of reinforced concrete and lead, as well as leaden piles of books combined with bronze sunflowers, lead ships, and wedges.

3.2. Photography and Books

Kiefer's early career involved creating performances documented in photographs, most notably the series Besetzungen_Occupations^German. In these conceptual photographic works, Kiefer, dressed in his father's Wehrmacht uniform, mimicked the Nazi salute in various European locations, aiming to provoke Germans to confront the cultural losses caused by the Third Reich's xenophobia.

In 1969, Kiefer also began to design books, which became a significant part of his artistic practice. Early examples typically feature worked-over photographs. His more recent books consist of sheets of lead layered with paint, minerals, or dried plant matter. He has assembled numerous lead books on steel shelves in libraries, which serve as symbols of the stored, discarded knowledge of history. The book Der Rhein_Rhine^German (1981) comprises a sequence of 25 woodcuts that suggest a journey along the Rhine River, a waterway central to Germany's geographical and historical development, which holds almost mythic significance in works like Richard Wagner's Ring of the Nibelungs. Scenes of the unspoiled river are interrupted by dark, swirling pages that represent the sinking of the battleship Bismarck in 1941 during Operation Rheinübung.

3.3. Notable Works and Series

Anselm Kiefer's extensive oeuvre includes numerous significant works and thematic series that define his artistic career. These works often engage with German history, literature, mythology, and esoteric concepts, demonstrating his profound and often provocative approach.

• Der zweite Sündenfall des Parmenides_{The Second Sinful Fall of Parmenides}^German (1969): Oil on canvas, 83 in ^{(210 cm)} x 98 in ^{(250 cm)}.
• Du bist Maler_{You're a Painter}^German (1969): Bound book, 9.8 in ^{(25 cm)} x 7.5 in ^{(19 cm)} x 0.4 in ^{(1 cm)}.
• Deutsche Heilsline_{German Line of Spiritual Salvation}^German (1975), Plate I: Watercolor on paper, 9.4 in ^{(24 cm)} x 13 in ^{(34 cm)}.
• Pages from Besetzungen_Occupations^German (1969): From Interfunktionen (Cologne), no. 12 (1975).
• Jeder Mensch steht unter seinem Himmelskugel_{Every Human Being Stands beneath His Own Dome of Heaven}^German (1970), Plate 2: Watercolor and pencil on paper, 16 in ^{(40 cm)} x 19 in ^{(48 cm)}.
• Double-page photographic image with foldout from Die Überschwemmung Heidelbergs_{The Flooding of Heidelberg}^German (1969): Bound volume, 12 in ^{(30.2 cm)} x 8.5 in ^{(21.7 cm)} x 0.9 in ^{(2.3 cm)}.
• Ohne Titel_Untitled^German (1971): Oil on canvas (in two parts), each 87 in ^{(220 cm)} x 39 in ^{(100 cm)}.
• Winterlandschaft_{Winter Landscape}^German (1970), Plate 3: Watercolor on paper, 17 in ^{(43 cm)} x 14 in ^{(36 cm)}.
• Liegender Mann mit Zweig_{Reclining Man with Branch}^German (1971), Plate 4: Watercolor on paper, 9.4 in ^{(24 cm)} x 11 in ^{(28 cm)}.
• Fulia^German (1971), Plate 5: Watercolor and pencil on paper, 19 in ^{(47.5 cm)} x 14 in ^{(36 cm)}.
• Quaternität_Quaternity^German (1973): Charcoal and oil on burlap, 118 in ^{(300 cm)} x 171 in ^{(435 cm)}.
• Vater, Sohn, heiliger Geist_{Father, Son, Holy Ghost}^German (1973): Oil on burlap, 65 in ^{(165 cm)} x 61 in ^{(156 cm)}.
• Glaube, Hoffnung, Liebe_{Faith, Hope, Love}^German (1973): Charcoal on burlap, with cardboard, 117 in ^{(298 cm)} x 111 in ^{(281 cm)}.

• Mann im Wald_{Man in the Forest}^German (1971), Plate 6: Oil on muslin, 69 in ^{(174 cm)} x 74 in ^{(189 cm)}.
• Resurrexit^German (1973), Plate 7: Oil, acrylic and charcoal on burlap, 114 in ^{(290 cm)} x 71 in ^{(180 cm)}.
• Nothung^German (1973), Plate 8: Oil and charcoal on burlap, with oil and charcoal on cardboard, 118 in ^{(300 cm)} x 170 in ^{(432 cm)}.
• Deutschlands Geisteshelden_{Germany's Spiritual Heroes}^German (1973), Plate 10: Oil and charcoal on burlap, mounted on canvas, 121 in ^{(307 cm)} x 269 in ^{(682 cm)}.
• Double-page from Heroische Sinnbilder_{Heroic Allegories}^German (1969): Photography on cardboard, with pastel and pencil, 26 in ^{(66 cm)} x 20 in ^{(50 cm)} x 3.9 in ^{(10 cm)}.
• Unternehmen "Wintergewitter"_{Operation Winter Storm}^German (1975): Oil on burlap, 47 in ^{(120 cm)} x 59 in ^{(150 cm)}.
• See Genezareth_{The Lake of Gennesaret}^German (1974): Oil emulsion, and shellac on burlap, 41 in ^{(105 cm)} x 67 in ^{(170 cm)}.
• Landschaft mit Kopf_{Landscape with Head}^German (1973), Plate 11: Oil, distemper, and charcoal on cardboard, 83 in ^{(210 cm)} x 94 in ^{(240 cm)}.
• Maikäfer flieg_{Cockchafer Fly}^German (1974), Plate 12: Oil on burlap, 87 in ^{(220 cm)} x 118 in ^{(300 cm)}.
• Märkische Heide_{March Heath}^German (1974), Plate 13: Oil, acrylic and shellac on burlap, 46 in ^{(118 cm)} x 100 in ^{(254 cm)}.
• Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh!_{There is Peace upon Every Mountain Peak!}^German (1973): Watercolor on paper, 12 in ^{(31.5 cm)} x 19 in ^{(48 cm)}.
• Unternehmen "Seelöwe"_{Operation Sea Lion I}^German (1975), Plate 14: Oil on canvas, 87 in ^{(220 cm)} x 118 in ^{(300 cm)}.
• Piet Mondrian- Unternehmen "Seelöwe"_{Piet Mondrian- Operation Sea Lion}^German (1975), Plate 15: Thirty-four double-page photographic images, mounted on cardboard and bound, 22 in ^{(57 cm)} x 17 in ^{(42 cm)} x 2.0 in ^{(5 cm)}.
• Märkischer Sand V_{March Sand V}^German (1977), Plate 16: Twenty-five double page photographic images, with sand, oil, and glue, mounted on cardboard and bound, 24 in ^{(62 cm)} x 17 in ^{(42 cm)} x 3.3 in ^{(8.5 cm)}.
• Double-page photographic images from Hoffmann von Fallersleben auf Helgoland^German (1978): Bound volume, 12 in ^{(30.2 cm)} x 8.5 in ^{(21.6 cm)} x 0.5 in ^{(1.3 cm)}.
• Varus^German (1976), Plate 17: Oil and acrylic on burlap, 79 in ^{(200 cm)} x 106 in ^{(270 cm)}.
• Double-page from Das deutsche Volksgesicht [Kohle fur 2000 Jahre]_{Germany's Facial Type (Charcoal for 2000 Years)}^German (1974): Charcoal on paper, with woodcut, 22 in ^{(57 cm)} x 18 in ^{(45 cm)} x 2.4 in ^{(6 cm)}.
• Heliogabal_Heliogabalus^German (1974): Watercolor on paper, 12 in ^{(30 cm)} x 16 in ^{(40 cm)}.
• Wege der Weltweisheit_{Ways of Worldly Wisdom}^German (1976-77), Plate 18: Oil, acrylic, and shellac on burlap, mounted on canvas, 120 in ^{(305 cm)} x 197 in ^{(500 cm)}.
• Wege der Weltweisheit-die Hermanns-Schlacht_{Ways of Worldly Wisdom- Arminius's Battle}^German (1978-80), Plate 19: Woodcut, with acrylic and shellac, mounted on canvas, 126 in ^{(320 cm)} x 197 in ^{(500 cm)}.
• Stefan!^German (1975), Plate 20: Watercolor and ball point pen on paper, 8.1 in ^{(20.5 cm)} x 11 in ^{(28.5 cm)}.
• Siegfried vergisst Brunhilde_{Siegfried Forgets Brunhilde}^German (1975): Oil on canvas, 51 in ^{(130 cm)} x 67 in ^{(170 cm)}.
• Grane^German (1980-1993): Woodcut with paint and collage on paper mounted on linen.

• Athanor^German (1988-91): Oil and acrylic, 110 in ^{(280 cm)} x 150 in ^{(380 cm)}.
• Starry Sky (1995).
• Princess of Siberia (1988): Mixed media, 110 in ^{(280 cm)} x 197 in ^{(501 cm)} x 2.6 in ^{(6.5 cm)}.
• The Fertile Crescent (2009): A group of epic paintings inspired by a trip to India, connecting ancient Mesopotamia to post-WWII Germany.
• Morgenthau Plan^German (2012): A sculpture of a golden wheat field enclosed in a 16 ft ^{(5 m)}-high steel cage.
• Die Ungeborenen_{The Unborn}^German (2012): Monumental new works exhibited at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac's Pantin space.
• Velimir Chlebnikov^Russian (2006): Consists of 30 large paintings (each 6.6 ft ^{(2 m)} x 9.8 ft ^{(3 m)}) referring to the theories of the Russian Futurist poet Velimir Khlebnikov.
• Karfunkelfee^German (2009): A series of forest diptychs and triptychs enclosed in glass vitrines, many filled with dense Moroccan thorns, inspired by a poem by Ingeborg Bachmann.
• Étroits sont les Vaisseaux_{Narrow are the Vessels}^French (2002): An 82 ft-long, undulating wave-like sculpture made of cast concrete, exposed rebar, and lead.
• Les Femmes de la Revolution_{The Women of the Revolution}^French (1992): Composed of more than twenty lead beds with photographs and wall text.
• Palmsonntag_{Palm Sunday}^German (2006): A monumental palm tree and 36 steel-and-glass reliquary tablets.
• Uraeus (2018): A sculpture inspired by religious symbols of Ancient Egypt and Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

Kiefer also created a particularly controversial work titled 20 Years of Solitude (1971-1991). This piece is a ceiling-high stack of hundreds of white-painted ledgers and handmade books, strewn with dirt and dried vegetation, with pages stained by the artist's semen. The title refers to the artist's frequent masturbation onto paper during its creation. This work has largely faded into obscurity after critics declined to write about it. In May 1993, Kiefer and his second wife, Renate Graf, hosted a dinner party in New York that shocked the art world. The commercial loft was decorated with white muslin and skinned animals hanging above a floor carpeted with white sand. Waiters dressed as mimes served guests arcane organ meats, mostly white in color, which were generally not found appetizing.

4.1. German Studios

Kiefer's artistic development began in his early studio spaces in Germany. His first large studio was located in the attic of his home, a former schoolhouse in Hornbach. As his work evolved and grew in scale, he later established his studio in a factory building in Buchen, near Hornbach. In 1988, Kiefer undertook a significant project, transforming a former brick factory in Höpfingen (also near Buchen) into an extensive artwork itself, incorporating numerous installations and sculptures within the industrial space. These German studios were the crucible for his formative years and the initial development of his characteristic engagement with German history and mythology.

4.2. French Studio Complex and Parisian Life

In 1991, after two decades of working in the Odenwald region of Germany, Kiefer embarked on extensive travels around the world, visiting India, Mexico, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, and the United States. In 1992, he established a new creative base in Barjac, France. Here, he transformed his 86 acre ^{(35 ha)} studio compound, known as La Ribaute, into a monumental Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art). This vast complex, originally a derelict silk factory, became a commentary on industrialization. Kiefer created an extensive system of glass buildings, archives, installations, storerooms for materials and paintings, and a network of subterranean chambers and corridors.

The scale and unique nature of his Barjac studio complex were captured in Sophie Fiennes's 2010 documentary film Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow, which documented both the environment and the artist at work. Critics noted that Kiefer devised an artistic project extending over acres, featuring miles of corridors, huge studio spaces with ambitious landscape paintings and sculptures that corresponded to monumental constructions in the surrounding woodland, and serpentine excavated labyrinths with great earthy columns resembling stalagmites or termite mounds. The film highlighted the sense that the entire complex might be a continuous work in progress, a monumental concept-art organism.

During 2008, Kiefer decided to leave his studio complex at Barjac and relocate to Paris. A fleet of 110 lorries was required to transport his vast body of work to a 35.00 K ft² warehouse in Croissy-Beaubourg, just outside Paris, which had previously served as a depository for the La Samaritaine department store. A journalist remarked on Kiefer's abandoned Barjac complex: "He left behind the great work of Barjac - the art and buildings. A caretaker looks after it. Uninhabited, it quietly waits for nature to take over, because, as we know, over our cities grass will grow." Despite his move, Kiefer continued to visit and work at Barjac, spending the summer of 2019 there.

5.1. Key Exhibitions and Retrospectives

Kiefer's first solo exhibition took place in 1969 at Galerie am Kaiserplatz in Karlsruhe. His international recognition began to solidify when he represented Germany at the Venice Biennale in 1980, alongside Georg Baselitz. He was again featured at the Venice Biennale in 1997, with a dedicated one-man show held at the Museo Correr, focusing on his paintings and books.

Comprehensive solo exhibitions showcasing the breadth of Kiefer's work have been organized by leading institutions worldwide. These include the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (1984), his first solo show at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg Villa Katz, Anselm Kiefer: Am Anfang (2003), which focused on recurring themes of history and myths. In 2005, he held his second exhibition at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac's Salzburg location, Für Paul Celan, which explored his preoccupation with books and linked Germanic mythology with Paul Celan's poetry. This exhibition featured eleven works on canvas, a series of bound books in display cases, and five sculptures, including a monumental outdoor piece of reinforced concrete and lead, two leaden piles of books combined with bronze sunflowers, lead ships and wedges, and two monumental leaden books from The Secret Life of Plants. This exhibition later toured to Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, and Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris, the following year. Other major exhibitions include the Art Institute of Chicago (1987), Sezon Museum of Art in Tokyo (1993), Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin (1991), Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (1998), Fondation Beyeler in Basel (2001), the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (2005), the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington D.C. (2006), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2007), and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (2007), which presented an extensive survey of his recent work. In 2009, several of his works were exhibited for the first time in the Balearic Islands at the museum Es Baluard in Palma de Mallorca. The Art Gallery of Hamilton presented some of his paintings in 2012.

In September 2014, London's Royal Academy of Arts mounted the first major British retrospective of Kiefer's work. In honor of his 70th birthday in 2015, a significant retrospective exhibition was jointly hosted by the Centre Pompidou and the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, as well as the Museum der bildenden Künkte in Leipzig. In 2016, the Albertina in Vienna dedicated an exhibition to his woodcuts, showcasing 35 pieces created between 1977 and 2015.

5.2. Major Installations

Anselm Kiefer is renowned for his impactful site-specific installations that engage with prominent cultural and architectural spaces. In 2007, he made history by becoming the first artist to be commissioned to install a permanent work at the Louvre in Paris since Georges Braque in 1953. This installation featured a triptych: the mural Athanor^German and the two sculptures Danae and Hortus Conclusus. In the same year, Kiefer inaugurated the Monumenta exhibition series at the Grand Palais in Paris, presenting works that paid special tribute to the poets Paul Celan and Ingeborg Bachmann.

In 2006, Kiefer's exhibition, Velimir Chlebnikov^Russian, was first shown in a small studio near Barjac, then moved to White Cube in London, and later to the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Connecticut. This work consists of 30 large (6.6 ft ^{(2 m)} x 9.8 ft ^{(3 m)}) paintings, displayed in two banks of 15 on facing walls of an expressly constructed corrugated steel building designed to mimic the studio where they were created. The work refers to the eccentric theories of the Russian Futurist philosopher/poet Velimir Khlebnikov, who invented a "language of the future" called "Zaum", and who postulated that cataclysmic sea battles shift the course of history once every 317 years. In these paintings, Kiefer's toy-like battleships-misshapen, battered, rusted, and hanging by twisted wires-are cast about by paint and plaster waves. The work's recurrent color notes are black, white, gray, and rust; and their surfaces are rough and slathered with paint, plaster, mud, and clay.

In 2008, Kiefer installed Palmsonntag_{Palm Sunday}^German (2006), a monumental palm tree sculpture accompanied by 36 steel-and-glass reliquary tablets, in the auditorium-gym of the First Baptist Church of Los Angeles, a large Spanish Gothic edifice built in 1927. The room was specially reconfigured to accommodate the artwork, with floors sanded and a new wall constructed for the reliquary paintings. In 2010, this piece was installed at the Art Gallery of Ontario museum in Toronto, for which Kiefer created eight new panels specifically for the exhibition.

At the Gagosian Gallery in 2010, Kiefer's exhibition Next Year in Jerusalem featured works that he explained were reactions to personal "shocks" triggered by recent events. In September 2013, the Hall Art Foundation, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), opened a long-term installation of Kiefer's sculptures and paintings within a specially repurposed 10.00 K ft² building on the MASS MoCA campus. In 2014, the foundation landscaped the surrounding area to present long-term outdoor sculpture installations. This long-term exhibition includes Étroits sont les Vaisseaux_{Narrow are the Vessels}^French (2002), an 82 ft-long, undulating wave-like sculpture of cast concrete, rebar, and lead; Les Femmes de la Revolution_{The Women of the Revolution}^French (1992), composed of more than twenty lead beds with photographs and wall text; Velimir Chlebnikov^Russian (2004), a steel pavilion housing 30 paintings on nautical warfare inspired by the theories of the Russian mathematical experimentalist Velimir Khlebnikov; and a new, large-format photograph on lead created specifically for the MASS MoCA installation.

In May 2018, Kiefer unveiled his first public art commission in the United States at Rockefeller Center. The Uraeus sculpture drew inspiration from the religious symbols of Ancient Egypt and Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical novel Thus Spoke Zarathustra. The sculpture was on view until July 22, 2018.

6.1. Major Prizes and Honors

In 1990, Kiefer was awarded the prestigious Wolf Prize in Arts. In 1999, the Japan Art Association honored him with the Praemium Imperiale for his lifetime achievements. The explanatory statement accompanying the award highlighted:
"A complex critical engagement with history runs through Anselm Kiefer's work. His paintings as well as the sculptures of Georg Baselitz created an uproar at the 1980 Venice Biennale: the viewers had to decide whether the apparent Nazi motifs were meant ironically or whether the works were meant to convey actual fascist ideas. Kiefer worked with the conviction that art could heal a traumatized nation and a vexed, divided world. He created epic paintings on giant canvases that called up the history of German culture with the help of depictions of figures such as Richard Wagner or Goethe, thus continuing the historical tradition of painting as a medium of addressing the world. Only a few contemporary artists have such a pronounced sense of art's duty to engage the past and the ethical questions of the present, and are in the position to express the possibility of the absolution of guilt through human effort."

In 2008, Kiefer was awarded the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, a notable achievement as it was the first time this honor was bestowed upon a visual artist. Art historian Werner Spies remarked in his speech that Kiefer is a passionate reader who draws inspiration from literature for his work.

Other significant honors and prizes include:

• 1983: Hans-Thoma-Preis of Baden-Württemberg
• 1985: Carnegie Prize
• 1990: Goslarer Kaiserring
• 2002: Officer of Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
• 2005: Austrian Decoration for Science and Art
• 2009: Adenauer-de Gaulle Prize (Paris, France/Berlin, Germany)
• 2011: Berliner Bär
• 2011: Leo Baeck Medal, from the Leo Baeck Institut of New York
• 2017: J. Paul Getty Medal Award
• 2019: Prize for Understanding and Tolerance, awarded by the Jewish Museum Berlin
• 2023: Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• 2023: German National Prize

6.2. Academic and Institutional Recognition

Beyond artistic prizes, Anselm Kiefer has also received significant academic and institutional recognition, underscoring his standing in art education and intellectual discourse.

• 2004: Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• 2010: Appointed to the Chair of Artistic Creation at the Collège de France
• 2014: Awarded an honorary doctorate in Philosophy by the University of Turin
• 2015: Received an honorary doctorate in letters from the University of St Andrews
• 2015: Conferred an honorary doctorate for general merit by the University of Antwerp
• 2017: Awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Freiburg
• 2020: Received an Honorary Doctorate in the Communication and Teaching of Art from the Brera Academy in Milan, Italy.

7.1. Art Market Performance

Kiefer's works command high prices in the global contemporary art market. His best-selling painting to date is The Fertile Crescent (2009), which sold for 4.00 M USD at the China Guardian auction house on June 3, 2019. Previously, the record was held by Dem Unbekannten Maler_{To the Unknown Painter}^German (1983), which sold for 3.55 M USD at Christie's New York on May 11, 2011, to an American private collector. Before that, Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom (1999) held the record, selling for 3.55 M USD at Christie's London on February 8, 2007. In 2017, Kiefer was ranked among the wealthiest individuals and families in Germany by Manager Magazin, with an estimated fortune of 700.00 M EUR.

7.2. Major Collections

Anselm Kiefer's works are featured in numerous public and private collections globally, demonstrating their widespread institutional and collector significance.

• Public Collections:**
  • Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin
  • Museum of Modern Art, New York
  • Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
  • Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit
  • Tate Modern, London
  • San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
  • Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
  • North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh
  • High Museum of Art, Atlanta
  • Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo
  • Philadelphia Museum of Art
  • National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
  • Tel Aviv Museum of Art
  • Albertina, Vienna
  • Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which holds 20 of the artist's rare watercolors.
  • Kochi Prefectural Museum of Art, Japan (Athanor^German)
  • National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan (Starry Sky)
  • Nagoya City Art Museum, Japan (Princess of Siberia)
• Private Collections:**
  • Eli Broad
  • Andrew J. Hall