Anselm Kiefer

by Daniel Arasse

A richly illustrated monograph of one of the most controversial and important artists at work today Anselm Kiefer, born in 1945, is one of the most important and controversial artists at work in the world today. Through such diverse mediums as painting, photography, artists’ books, installations, and sculpture, he has interpreted the great political and cultural issues at the heart of the modern European the connections between memory, history, and mythology; war; the Holocaust; and ethnic and national identity. In this extensively illustrated, thoughtful survey of his work, available again in a new and compact format, author Daniel Arasse analyzes Kiefer’s education, influences, philosophy, and art, while demonstrating the unity and continuity of his work. Arasse takes as his starting point the 1980 Venice Biennale, a key moment in Kiefer’s career that marked the birth of both his international reputation and the controversy over the strong focus on German civilization that characterized much of his work.

Equal parts eloquent tribute and respected monograph, Anselm Kiefer is organized both chronologically and to reflect the artist’s recurrent motifs, including Nordic and Germanic mythologies, Jewish mysticism, the cosmos, the legends of the ancient world, and many more. Approximately 250 full-color images reproduce his art at the highest possible quality, to trace Kiefer’s creative evolution and reveal as fully as possible his works’ scope and power. 409 illustrations, 394 in color

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

344 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2001

About the author

L'historien de l’art français, spécialiste de la Renaissance et de l'art italien.

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_A...

Reviews

[jennifer jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

very redundant, but i really enjoyed all of the photos in color.

[Caomhghain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated and presents Kiefer's themes and images very clearly in so far as that is possible for an artist who is so complex.

[Kevin Tole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essentially a book of art bollix written for art bollixers. Having left it on the rig I will need to take it on again when I get back. Some of the text IS illuminating but far less so than the work itself - which is well documented by the book - and some of it is ALL art bollix-for-non-practitioners i.e. ART FUCKING HISTORIANS / non-practising artists.

This is a double edged book. The illustrations are immaculate and there's plenty of them. Good quality photographs well reproduced - full sized shots and close up details too. But the text from this chancer Arasse is pure dead Art Bollix from someone that sounds like king of the Art Bollixers and fluent in General Bollix.

There are cheaper (and smaller) books on Kiefer out there. The Phaidon book is decent - not so many illustrations, but not so much cock either ie. text is less important than getting the images across.

This geezer Arasse is right up there in the top European smarm-yer-way-into-the-cultural-elite-by-spouting-pish-that-only-cultural-pish-speakers-can-understand.

Do you think Daniel Arasses is a real geezer or some bumpkin taking the michael a la DaDa as in 'Dan I El ar an Ass e'?

could be, pablo......could be.

[Peter Houlihan · Rating 5 out of 5]

really do admire this work so close to DADA in the way the subject is handled love the organic nature of the work the decay the becoming some thing other than its intended purpose the passage of time like the starkness all to say the ideas it gives me really excite me the processes of his use of materials well worth a glance at

[Brigette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this German artist. Pretty dark, but some fabulous mixed media work. Another post-war German trying to come to terms with the past, in this case through art.

[Greg Walsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Artist fantastic, images good. Writing for me, personally, was a bit over complicated.