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| Anselm Kiefer, Aschenblume (Ash Flower), 2004, Oil, acrylic and emulsion on canvas, 95 5/8 x 100 7/8 inches |
Virginia Wagner writes about Anselm Kiefer's painting Ash Flower for the blog Painters on Painting, the projects challenges artists to write about an artwork that's had a significant impact on them. Wagner writes
What keeps me looking, as the ocean roars before me, are the layers that Kiefer has laid. His paintings are thick with old tales, ties to his other works, and histories of the lands he depicts. Somehow, subtle story arcs and fine lines of poetry survive in his leaded swamps. The title of this painting comes from Paul Celan’s poem above: “Aschenbume” or “ash flower.” Celan was a Jewish Romanian poet who lived through and lost most of his family in the Holocaust. The flower that sprouts from the mouth of the dead girl carries a word that survives her. more