Anself Kiefer: Maria durch ein Dornwald ging

Published to accompany German Expressionist Anselm Kiefer’s 2008 exhibition at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, this exquisitely produced volume features black-and-white documentary photographs of the artist and his fabled indoor-outdoor Paris studio, a very generous selection of color reproductions and details and an insightful interview of Kiefer by Klaus Dermutz. The work itself is a cycle of roughly 30 paintings and one sculpture from 2007 and 2008 that deal with the biblical figure of the Virgin Mary. Its title, which translates to Maria Walks amid the Thorn, refers to an old German Christmas carol that has been popular for the better part of the past century. Some of the works in this important new cycle were started in the 1970s and completed in recent months with Keifer’s unique sedimenting” method.”

Anselm Kiefer was born in 1945 in Donaueschingen, Germany. In 1966 he left law studies at the University of Freiburg to study art in Freiburg, Karlsruhe and Dusseldorf. His massive paintings confront twentieth-century German history head on, employing Kiefer’s own array of visual symbols to comment on tragic aspects of German history and culture, particularly the Nazi era. Kieferi’s work has been exhibited throughout the world in most major museums.