Anselm Kiefer was born in Donaueschingen, Germany on March 8, 1945. In later years he became one of the most prominent figures in the Neo-Expressionist art movement. He studied law at the University of Freiburg until 1966. In 1966 he became an artist and was a student of Joseph Buys who is another German artist (Sara pg.
139). In the painting March Heath Kiefer uses a variety of color. However the color’s that are used are dark colors and earth tone color. The center of this painting is the road that vanishes into the background.
It is obvious that Kiefer wanted this to be the main object of the painting. Where the road vanishes is in the center also. However Kiefer does not tell us where the road leads. At the bottom of the painting the German words “Markische Heid” are painted with black ink. The black ink causes the phrase to get the viewers attention. After reading Anselm Kiefer by Mark Rosenthal I learned that March Heath belongs to the Brandenburg region, located in East Germany (Rosenthal pg.
35). The Brandenburg region played a very important role to the Persian Empire during the seventeenth century. With this region being so important it was frequently fought over (Rosenthal pg. 35). The road looks heavily traveled because of the ruts where the grass is dead and has turned into a dirt path. Each side of the path is painted with very little detail.
Yes you can tell that it is a field and you can see some plants but it is not as easily noticed as the path. On the right side of the path there is a group of trees, but three are only seen. Rosenthal says “that the trees are birch trees, and they establish a Fontaine-like context of nature resplendent, waiting to be enjoyed in peaceful contemplation (Rosenthal pg 35).” Another painting by Kiefer is Deutschlands Geistesbelden or in English Germany’s Spiritual Heroes. He uses bi-lateral symmetry. Each side of the hallway has the same amount of support beams and a large dish filled with some type of kerosene or oil that is burning on each beam. Under each candle there is a name written in black paint, and maybe these are the German Spiritual Heroes.
The flaming dishes run all the way down the hallway and it leads to a door. The door that the hallway leads to is the center of the painting. But what is on the other side of the door? Maybe it is the ultimate hero or possibly the God that Kiefer believes in. This painting has a lot of detail in it and because of that Kiefer must have put a lot of time and effort in it.
The detail that he uses throughout the hallway is just astounding. He painted the wood of the hallway with knots and grains. Even the flames are painted with a lot of detail. Kiefer makes the wood and flames seem real enough to be able to touch it and get a splinter or burn your hand.
At the top of the painting Anselm Kiefer paints Deutschlands Geistesbelden in black paint or black ink. Of all the colors that could have been used Kiefer only used four. The mixture of red and yellow easily create the image of fire, and black creates a shadow at the bottom and the door in the background. Deutschlands Geistesbelden means Germany’s Spiritual Heroes in English. Who are these heroes? The book Anselm Kiefer written by Mark Rosenthal says, ” These great Figures and their achievements are reduced to just names, recorded not in marble edifice but in the attic of a rural schoolhouse (Rosenthal pg. 30).” Anselm Kiefer’s paintings of March Heath is very similar and also very different than Deutschlands Geistesbelden.
They are similar in the fact that he paints the title of each painting in black ink somewhere in the painting, and that he uses some detail in each of the paintings. I think that Kiefer paints the title of his art on the painting is so that we will remember what it is called and possibly remember who painted it. But the only problem with painting the title is that he uses the German language. I do not know any German and I do not know many people that can read German or speak it. Also the paintings are similar in that they are both of some sort of path. Whether it be a dirt path leading to another town or a wooden hallway leading into another room or possibly outside.
Kiefer uses a lot of detail in these two paintings. The hallway had wood support beams and wood floor and sealing. The wood has knots and grain, which is what real wood, looks like. The dirt path that is worn through heavy traffic over time has detail. I noticed that Kiefer uses darker colors and earth tone colors more than he uses bright colors. There are also some differences in the paintings.
In the painting Deutschlands Geistesbelden the words are written at the top of the painting. Whereas the words for March Heath are written at the bottom. There also is not as much detail in March Heath as there is in Deutschlands Geistesbelden. It seems that in March Heath the main focus is the path and that Kiefer did not care about using a lot of detail for the fields that the path splits..