Anselm Kiefer

Anselm Kiefer, born in Donaueschingen, Germany, in 1945 during the final months of World War II, is a major contemporary artist whose expansive practice confronts themes of history, memory, and mythology. After initial studies in law and languages, Kiefer pursued art at the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Karlsruhe and maintained formative contact with Joseph Beuys. From 1971 to 1992, he worked in rural Germany before relocating to France, where he continues to live and work. Kiefer’s artistic universe encompasses monumental paintings, installations, vitrines, artist's books, and works on paper, distinguished by his use of evocative materials such as lead, ash, straw, concrete, and charred books. His richly textured compositions reference sources as diverse as the Kabbalah, Norse mythology, the Holocaust, and the poetry of Paul Celan, often blending art with philosophy and literature to form a visceral meditation on collective and cosmic memory.

Kiefer’s work has been shown in major institutions worldwide. His seminal mid-career retrospective (1987–89) travelled across the U.S., including MoMA and the Art Institute of Chicago. Notable exhibitions include And Heaven and Earth (2005–07), the Royal Academy of Art, London (2014), and the Centre Pompidou, Paris (2015–16). In recent years, he has continued to exhibit widely, with large-scale shows at the Grand Palais Éphémère, Palazzo Ducale in Venice, and Palazzo Strozzi in Florence. His permanent installation at the Panthéon in Paris (2020) marks a historic presidential commission. Kiefer’s works are housed in premier public collections including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Tate, London; and Centre Pompidou, Paris. Widely acknowledged for his profound engagement with German and European memory, Kiefer occupies a central place in the international art world, with a robust and liquid market supported by critical acclaim and institutional recognition.