Born in 1945 in Donaueschingen, Germany, Anselm Kiefer HRSA studied law and romance languages at the University of Freiburg before pursuing studies in fine art at the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künst in Karlsruhe. Early works engaged with the memory of WWII as a means of breaking the silence over the recent past. Through parodying the Nazi salute along with visually citing National Socialist architecture and Germanic heroic legends, Kiefer explored his identity, culture, and history.
From 1968 and up until his move to France in 1992, Kiefer worked in several studios in Germany. Throughout this time, he started incorporating that which has become emblematic of his work–materials and techniques such as lead, straw, plants, and woodcuts–and themes including Wagner’s Ring Cycle, the poetry of Paul Celan and Ingeborg Bachmann, Goethe’s Faust, Velimir Khlebnikov’s futuristic theories, as well as Biblical connotations and Jewish mysticism.
Anselm Kiefer currently works and lives outside of Paris.
