I don't know a lot about Anselm Kiefer, the subject of a large exhibit at the Hirshhorn, except that he was born in Germany just as WWII was ending in 1945, that he spent most of his life there, and that he now has a large rural studio in the south of France.
The docent at the museum told me that this was one of the more difficult exhibits to explain; I am not sure why.
Kiefer is clearly a thinker. His art is by and large non-representational, his canvases by and large very much oversized, his colors tend towars the browns, and golds, and dull reds, and blacks, his picture of the world rather stark, with glimpses of non-wordly light and hope, but inklings of the apocolypse. His images tend to be religious (he is ecumenical is his imagery), his figures expressionless, his landscapes scorched, his skyscapes infinite, his books burnt, his architectural images all at right angles. His trees are leafless, he has never bought (or mixed) green paint. His media is mixed: heavy oils, charcoals, canvas, burlap, lead, clay, objects.
He makes you think. Some of his work is overwhelming.
If you think you would like this sort of thing, this is an exhibit not to miss.
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