Anselm Kiefer and the material depth of his late works

From the AD HOC NEWS Art Desk » Work Series & Retrospective Desk - The editors cover exhibitions, auctions, collections, prizes and artistic positions. Published: June 27, 2026 · Last checked: June 27, 2026, 7:07 PM

Anselm Kiefer has long been associated with vast, layered paintings and sculptural installations that confront German history and memory. His recurring use of lead, straw, earth and concrete gives the work a physical gravity that makes each series feel like a geological stratum of the twentieth century.

Key work series across five decades

From early pieces such as Bestrafung and the controversial performances in which Kiefer photographed himself in Nazi salute poses, the artist moved into large canvases dealing with German forests, ruins and mythic figures. These early cycles already show his insistence on tying landscape to historical trauma.

The series Margarethe and Sulamith, created in the 1980s, translate Paul Celan's poem 'Todesfuge' into visual terms, juxtaposing blond straw against ash-darkened surfaces. In these works, the materials themselves stage the tension between victim and perpetrator memories, embedding poetry directly into the paint skin.

Later, Kiefer turned repeatedly to the theme of the Kabbalah and cosmology in series like Sefiroth and , where constellations, ladders and celestial diagrams appear across lead and canvas. Here, the paintings become maps that connect catastrophe with the possibility of transcendence through mystical systems.

The monumental lead book sculptures, often grouped in stacked libraries or open on rough plinths, form another body of work. These pieces turn the idea of knowledge into heavy, almost immovable volumes, suggesting both the burden and necessity of history. Their surfaces carry inscriptions, scorched marks and vegetal motifs.

Material strategies in Kiefer's practice

Kiefer is known for using lead taken from industrial sources, combined with straw, clay, sand and organic material that he fixes into thick layers of gesso and acrylic. The choice of lead, a toxic and heavy metal, underlines his focus on the weight of historical responsibility and the impossibility of easy purification.

Fire plays a central role in many works, from burned books to scorched canvases. By charring surfaces, Kiefer invokes destruction as both a historical reality and a transformative process. The resulting textures recall bombed architecture and burned archives, grounding his symbolism in physical process.

Scale is another decisive element. Many paintings exceed the viewer's height several times, forcing bodily confrontation rather than disembodied contemplation. The size echoes the dimensions of architecture, which Kiefer often references through motifs like concrete towers, bunkers and temple facades.

His studio practice, especially in the large complex at Barjac in southern France, has involved constructing entire environments where works are stored in hangar-like halls and open structures. This spatial approach allows series to grow organically, with paintings and sculptures responding to each other across time.

The work core in overview

Across these series, Kiefer keeps returning to three intertwined themes: German history, Jewish memory and mythological or cosmic systems. Each cycle combines textual references from poets and philosophers with hand-written inscriptions, making language and image inseparable in his compositions.

His paintings often use horizon lines that are pulled low or tilted, destabilizing the spatial orientation. Ruins of buildings, ploughed fields and battered interiors become recurring backdrops. Over these, he layers references to historical figures, biblical characters and occult diagrams, treating the picture plane as a palimpsest.

Books, both painted and sculptural, act as a unifying motif. The idea of the book as repository of knowledge is questioned and weighed against the violence contained in archives. Many works suggest that reading history is inseparable from acknowledging complicity and guilt.

Where Anselm Kiefer stands now

Against this backdrop, Anselm Kiefer's position today is defined by a mature body of work in multiple long-running series, with no single new exhibition or award announced within the immediate 30-day window but with sustained institutional and market interest built over decades.

This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.