Author Description

The work of Anselm Kiefer begins with a crucial question: how, after the Holocaust, can one be an artist within the German tradition? Born at the end of the Second World War, Kiefer's career represents a quasi-existential quest to redefine Germanness. This new monograph will examine the foundation of Kiefer's work: memory and our response to it. Kiefer's artistic perspective is informed in turn by great literary works, myths, tales, legends, and particularly the world of Kabbalistic mysticism. This unprecedented monograph explores his passion for alchemy, his admiration for great female figures obscured by history, and his relationship with the landscape and nature, a notable topic of his most recent works. Art historian Dominique Baque ́ also highlights an aspect of Kiefer's work that has received little critical attention: his conceptual understanding of the book and photography. In fact, Kiefer mixes many forms and media, and Baqué expands this study with a discussion of the often-overlooked performance element of his work, starting with his first actions from the end of the 1960s.