Unlike hardly any other contemporary German artist, Anselm Kiefer has rendered the horrors of recent history and created profound works of art with mythological, religious, and philosophical themes. Subtle layers that alternately cover as well as uncover one another; that contain the knowledge of the inevitable transformation and dissolution of all matter—monumental and material-related at once. All of these fundamental elements that also inform his woodcuts. The catalogue accompanying the retrospective of the same name at the Albertina now thoroughly deals with these for the first time. More than thirty-five major works comprise the most important cycles and thematic groups and demonstrate the variety to be discovered: from the first works also in the traditional book format and the fascinating large-format works on the theme Brunhilde: Grane, to the Ways of Worldly Wisdom: Arminius’s Battle and the ensemble of Rhine woodcuts.
(German edition ISBN 978-3-7757-4100-2)
 
Exhibition: Albertina, Vienna 18.3.–19.6.2016