Anselm Kiefer honored with two exhibitions in the Netherlands The Stedelijk Museum and Van Gogh Museum showcase the German artist’s work. . (This link opens in a new tab).

By Stefan Trinks

[...] The Van Gogh Museum's graphic cabinet displays a drawing by Kiefer from perhaps when he was five years old, showing three small boats with angular sails and paddles on a lake, reminiscent of those captured by Paul Klee and Lyonel Feininger at the Bauhaus. Of course, one could argue that all young children paint abstractly. However, knowing how significant the sea has been to Kiefer — which he has tried to replicate in all materials throughout his life — makes the drawing feel like more than just child's play. Waves of lead pour over his canvases, and he layered waves of concrete on top of each other in his massive studio landscape in Barjac, so that the cement sea flows despite its rigidity. And if, as a child, Kiefer imagined the Rhine flowing through his basement in Baden, near the border, you begin to take the child’s drawing seriously. This dual perspective is enlightening in every way, and it almost feels odd that the Dutch have to explain to the Germans who Kiefer's primary artistic influence was — none other than Vincent van Gogh. [...]