Anselm Kiefer

Printed in a limited edition of only 500 copies, this artist’s book by Anselm Kiefer derives from an oversized unique bookwork Keifer executed two years earlier in 1978. The title references the patriot poet who penned the lyrics to Germany’s national anthem in the 19th century—a call for the national unification of the German speaking world—which would go through numerous adaptations over the course of Germany’s tumultuous history. In high contrasted black and white photographs, the book constitutes a visual composition across the pages, with hints of a narrative. The artist deploys the elements of a bare room, a metal bathtub, chunks of ice and toy battleships and submarines, to create this dark and foreboding mise en scene.… (mer)