ART/EXHIBITION

Vol. 1
Kiefer/Van Gogh

The Royal Academy of Arts presents Kiefer / Van Gogh, a striking exhibition that bridges two artists separated by more than a century - Anselm Kiefer, a German painter and artist, and Vincent van Gogh, the Dutch painter of light and emotion.

Kiefer (b. 1945), has long explored history and trauma, in post-war Germany, through monumental works layered with lead, ash, and straw. His art is dense and tactile, confronting Germany’s past while searching for renewal through decay and transformation. Kiefer incorporates organic, and even decaying materials creating dynamic surfaces that change over time, mirroring the cyclical processes of life, death, and rebirth.

Vincent van Gogh was Kiefer’s first artistic inspiration. In 1963, Kiefer followed Van Gogh’s path across Europe, what he later described as an “Initiation Journey”. Tracing the footsteps of Van Gogh, Kiefer produced drawings deeply influenced by Post-Impressionism with the rational and structural qualities of Van Gogh’s art.

As Kiefer later reflected -

“Contrary to what one might expect of a teenager, I was not overly interested in the emotional aspect of Van Gogh’s work or in his unhappy life. What impressed me was the rational structure, the confident construction of his paintings, in a life that was increasingly slipping out of his control”
These early sketches marked the beginning of a lifelong artistic dialogue between the two painters. This enduring connection is revisited in the exhibition, which presents a selection of paintings and drawings by Van Gogh with early sketches by Kiefer, as well as his 2019 canvases.

The two artists saw the same field but painted different worlds, showing a mix of light and loss, hope and heaviness.

Van Gogh and Kiefer share many points of connection, from their treatment of landscapes to their engagement with literature. For Van Gogh, a field was never just a scenic subject. His drawing Field with Irises Near Arles, painted shortly after moving to southern France, shows a careful attention to color and composition. Van Gogh described the painting to his brother Theo as “just like a Japanese dream,” reflecting his use of techniques inspired by Japanese woodblock prints leaving intense feelings and emotions.

Kiefer approaches landscapes differently. Growing up in a German town marked by World War II, he sees fields and soil as witnesses to history. His work emphasizes the material and structural aspects of the land, treating it as a record of human activity and the passage of time rather than purely visual or emotional experience.

“Books and reality and art are the same kind of thing for me”

- Vincent van Gogh

Literature plays a key role for both artists. Van Gogh frequently referenced books in his letters, seeing reading, art, and observation as interconnected.
Kiefer similarly draws on poetry, mythology, and literature to shape his work; his 2023 White Cube exhibition, for instance, engaged directly with the challenges of James Joyce’s novel of 1939, Finnegans Wake. In Kiefer’s canvas, text acts as a framework, adding layers of meaning to his paintings.

For Kiefer, the sunflower represents the cycle of life, reflecting both growth and decline. Its upward movement toward the sun and closing at night illustrates a rhythm of existence, a symbol of the ‘condition d’être,’ condition of being.

The figure lying at the base of the sunflowers may be seen as a reflection of the artist himself, resembling the “savasana” or “corpse pose” from yoga, suggesting a state of rest and unity with nature. This positioning reflects Kiefer’s interest in mortality, transformation, and the connection between humans and nature.

The Starry Night: Kiefer & Van Gogh

Painted in 1889, during his stay at the Saint-Rémy-de-Provence asylum, The Starry Night (1889, MoMA, New York) is one of his most studied depictions of the night sky. The painting portrays a swirling firmament pattern above a quiet village, combining observation with imaginative interpretation.

Anselm Kiefer engages directly with Van Gogh’s work in his own interpretation of The Starry Night. Kiefer translates the celestial patterns into bundles of golden wheat, growing from the soil below. In doing so, he merges the sky and the earth, once again emphasizing the continuity between human life, the land, and the cosmos. Kiefer’s version abstracts and materializes the night sky, maintaining the structural rhythm of Van Gogh’s composition.

Kiefer has described Van Gogh’s original as almost transcendental, projecting viewers into a vast, unknowable universe. The spirals and heavenly forms suggest forces that are simultaneously immense, hinting at both cosmic infinity and subatomic detail.

By reinterpreting the sky through the medium of wheat, Kiefer reinforces the interplay between nature, mortality, and the broader universe, creating a dialogue between Post-Impressionist expression and contemporary materiality. Moreover, the pairing allows viewers to see how contemporary practice can extend and reinterpret Post-Impressionist ideas.