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Anselm Kiefer Hardcover – October 1, 2001

by Daniel Arasse (Author)

4.4 16 ratings

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Anselm Kiefer (b. 1945) is one of the most important and controversial artists of the twentieth century. This book, the first to analyze the essence of his work, begins with Kiefer's arrival on the international art scene at the 1980 Venice Biennale, when he sparked heated debate and controversy over the "Germanity" of his pieces. Since that time, through such diverse mediums as painting, gouache and watercolor, photography, artist's books, engravings, installations, and sculpture, Kiefer has created a body of work that is protean, theatrical, monumental, or intimate, depending on the period. He has interpreted the great political and cultural issues at the heart of the modern European sensibility: the connections among memory, history, and mythology; war; the Holocaust; and ethnic and national identity.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Writing about one of the most important and complex artists of our times requires the erudition, clarity, and broad view of a Daniel Arasse, author of the gorgeously illustrated Anselm Kiefer. Avoiding a straightforward chronological survey, Arasse plunges directly into Kiefer's major themes and the ways they reflect the artist's subtly evolving perspectives on German history, the role of the artist, and the meaning of life. Arasse illuminates Kiefer's use of Jewish kabbalistic symbolism, his relationship to philosophers and writers from Nietzsche to Celan, and the rich trove of metaphor to be found in his use of lead, straw, books, and images of railroad tracks and artists' palettes. Never succumbing to art-speak, Arasse--whose French text has been deftly translated into English--marshals his arguments with lucid elegance. The approximately 400 full-color plates, including full views and close-ups, are magnificent. This is surely one of the major art books of our time. --Cathy Curtis

From Booklist

Controversy has accompanied German artist Kiefer ever since his debut at the 1980 Venice Biennale, and now his challenging, wildly expressive, and theatrical paintings, sculptures, and installations receive all the space, high-quality reproductions, and fluent interpretation they demand in this superb, groundbreaking volume. Arasse begins by discussing the complexity of Kiefer's themes and iconography, noting that, taken as a whole, his work evinces a "labyrinthine quality," and addresses "the question of whether, and to what extent, it was possible to be a 'German artist' after the Holocaust and the appropriation of that country's national artistic and cultural traditions by the Third Reich." It isn't easy to grasp all that Kiefer is up to in his disturbingly ambiguous inquiry into Nazi imagery, blending of myth and history, depictions of scorched and blasted landscapes and buildings, and use of books as objects, so readers will greatly appreciate Arasse's lucidity, energetic intellectual engagement, and forthrightness in discussing the ethical problems and philosophical conundrums posed by Kiefer's undeniably powerful creations. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harry N. Abrams; 1st ed. edition (October 1, 2001)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 327 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0810903849
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0810903845
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 13 years and up
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 8 and up
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.85 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 10 x 1.5 x 12.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,562,825 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #17,106 in Individual Artists (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.4 16 ratings

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Shaun Fergus

It is simply amazing! The writing and the images are top notch ...

Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2016

Verified Purchase

I just received a used copy of this book. It is simply amazing! The writing and the images are top notch and cover a wide range over Kiefer's long creative history. I have been waiting to find an affordable copy of this book to add to the collection and am so happy to have found a hardbound version of this heavy tome.

To verify for others, the soft cover book listed as this one is completely wrong, They are 2 completely different books (I own the soft cover version listed and can confirm this... it is also a good book)

If you can find an affordable copy I highly recommend acquiring it.

4 people found this helpful

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C. MERRITT

Comprehensive and deep review of this pivotal artist.

Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2007

Verified Purchase

This is a deep, thorough and comprehensive look at much of Keifer's oeuvre. It covers different periods of his work and reveals the shared threads of each phase. This book is one of the better ones that I've physically seen, as it has many pages of well-printed photographs and documentation. The text is well written and cogent.

As for the artist, he's compelling and profound. What more can be said?

6 people found this helpful

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Seth

To put it short, if you are interested in ...

Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2015

Verified Purchase

To put it short, if you are interested in learning about Kiefer as a person as well as an artist, while also being able to see a notably lengthy collection of his work, this is book you need.

2 people found this helpful

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alejandro quiroga

conditions of the item

Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2012

Verified Purchase

the book was at my entire satifaction, but the conditions that i recived was very bad, though the item was used,the cover was ok, the pages itself were unglued from the cover, due, i figure to very poor handling.
after seen those videos in youtube about ups guys handling items in a very miscare manner...maybe that was the problem

One person found this helpful

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mar

Paper back edition inferior

Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2010

Verified Purchase

I saw this book in the hard back edition in a shop and came to Amazon to buy it. Whilst trying to purchase the hardback version the system automatically took me to the paper back edition which I bought thinking it was teh same book with an updated cover but in softback. Big mistake. It is inferior to the hard back edition as it has not got many of the images I really wanted. Looking more closely later I saw it has about 100 less pages. Don't be fooled into buying the paper back edition I was very disappointed.

25 people found this helpful

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