In this article, we’ll discuss Anselm Kiefer, one of the most important artists of the post-World War II era. He emerged in the late 1970s as a leader of Neo-Expressionism, alongside Georg Baselitz and Julian Schnabel. In an era dominated by Minimalism and Conceptual Art, characterized by lightness and, often, immateriality, Kiefer did something counterintuitive: he reintroduced the concept of weight. This resulted in the creation of big installations and a return to large-scale painting, creating works that are more easily assimilated to monuments thanks to the density of their materials, which give the artworks a physical presence.
Anselm Kiefer was born in March 1945 in Germany, under the bombs of World War II. As a child, he grew up amid the rubble of the conflict, with dust and bricks transformed from symbols of destruction into raw material. For him, ruins are not the end of something, but a building material. It is thanks to this element that Kiefer’s style is not destructive but rather layered: he doesn’t destroy the canvas, but accumulates layers, celebrating the persistence of memory through destruction. For this reason, Kiefer’s art belongs to and symbolises Germany’s “Stunde Null” (zero hour).
The first turning point in Kiefer’s career came in 1969 with Occupations, a series in which he was photographed in various locations across Europe wearing his father’s Wehrmacht uniform and performing the Nazi salute. This was not a gesture of adhesion, but a radical provocation. Indeed, the aim was to force German fathers to stop pretending that the past had never existed. Despite his intent, when Kiefer arrived in Düsseldorf in the early 1970s to attend the Academy of Fine Arts, he carried with him the burden of a work that had scandalized Germany.
However, one of the few to understand the need for such a work was Joseph Beuys, the most influential German intellectual and artist of the postwar period. He was aware that to overcome the trauma, it was necessary for Kiefer to embody the monster. The two met because Beuys was teaching in Düsseldorf, and in many ways the professor saved Kiefer’s career, which might have ended without his advocacy. Kiefer subsequently remained Beuys’s student for about two years, between 1970 and 1972. Although the time they spent together may seem brief, Beuys’s influence was so profound that it acted as a catalyst for Kiefer’s entire subsequent career.
Beuys did not hold traditional lectures. His method consisted of an open classroom based on dialogue and intellectual provocation. In this way, he conveyed two fundamental concepts to his students, and to Kiefer in particular. The first is that of the artist as curator of history: Beuys argued that the only way to heal a nation was to “put salt in the wound,” preventing the scar from closing in oblivion. The second is that of social sculpture, according to which art has the duty to shape society. On a practical level, the master’s influence led Kiefer to use organic and unconventional materials, such as straw, sand, and ash. However, Beuys operated as a shaman, confident in the therapeutic power of art to heal humanity through isolating and protective materials such as felt and fat. Kiefer, on the other hand, became an alchemist: he accepted the weight of matter, with lead becoming his preferred material, to transform the ruin into a place of knowledge.
Another key moment occurred in 1992, when Kiefer left Germany for France. Here, in an abandoned silk factory in Barjac, he spent 15 years creating La Ribaute, a project that fused life, philosophy, and industrial production. The result is incredible: a labyrinth composed of dozens of glass pavilions, kilometres of underground tunnels, amphitheatres, and artificial hills made of industrial waste and lead. Each pavilion and tunnel is dedicated to specific themes, making the site a physical archive of the artist’s thought and work. In this sense, La Ribaute allowed Kiefer to become a demiurge, capable of constructing an entire world according to his own aesthetic and philosophical laws. This perfectly embodies the German artist’s belief that the viewer must not only look at the work but also walk through it: the underground tunnels and pavilions of La Ribaute lead to a physical and psychological journey, descending into the depths of Kiefer’s world.
Moving to the central theme of the article, another fundamental connection to Kiefer’s career is with Italy. The German artist’s arrival on the Italian peninsula is closely linked to Lia Rumma, the visionary gallerist who has acted as a bridge since the late 1980s. Kiefer initially arrived in Naples, where Rumma had opened her gallery in 1971. Here, he was introduced to a Mediterranean dimension that simultaneously contrasted and enriched the heaviness of his art. In this sense, Lia Rumma was not a simple commercial intermediary, but the companion of a vision that pushed Kiefer to think of art as a monumental intervention. It was she who convinced him that Italy was not just the land of the Renaissance, but a place where the wounds of history could be healed.
Kiefer’s move to Northern Italy, and specifically to Milan, officially took place in 1999, with the opening of Lia Rumma’s gallery in Milan. The artist has explicitly stated his love for the Lombardy capital, a city of concrete, iron, and stratification, calling it the ideal place to host his works. This affinity stems from the very nature of Milan: a city that rebuilt itself from the rubble of the post-war period and has retained a soul tied to production and construction. In 2004, the bond between Kiefer and Milan became definitive with the creation of HangarBicocca. At the time, Pirelli was seeking a new identity for its vast, abandoned industrial spaces, particularly the former factory for the production of electrical coils. Once again, thanks to Lia Rumma’s strategic mediation, Kiefer visited the space and was struck by the cosmic void and the colossal dimensions of the pavilions, finding a space capable of physically and conceptually supporting a work of art that transcended the boundaries of the gallery. At that point, Kiefer’s desire became to create a permanent installation, not just a simple exhibition.
The final result is a site-specific installation that summarizes the key themes of Kiefer’s career. The name derives from the Jewish book Sefer Hechalot (Book of Palaces), dating back to the 4th-5th century AD, which narrates the spiritual journey of those who aspire to reach the presence of God. The dimensions are colossal: seven towers ranging in height from 13 to 19 meters. Each tower weighs approximately 90 tons and is constructed from containers, used as formwork for the concrete, creating a visual connection between modern industry and ancient ruins. Lead books and wedges are inserted between the various concrete layers. This metal has a dual function: structural and, above all, symbolic, being traditionally associated with the ability to protect against radiation and preserve memory. At the base of some towers are fragments of glass with NASA numbers, symbolizing the human stubbornness in cataloging the immeasurable, the stars, through rational systems. Furthermore, in 2015, the installation was rearranged with the addition of five large, previously unseen canvases of Kiefer (created between 2009 and 2013) that surround the towers, making the experience even more immersive and addressing themes such as the relationship between man and nature and the history of Western thought.
The installation is a milestone because it projects the rubble of World War II into a dimension outside of time, inviting us to look at the present from a post-apocalyptic future. These contemporary ruins represent the collapse of knowledge: the defeat of humanity in its vain attempt to elevate itself to divinity. Kiefer, however, uses this not to frighten us, but to offer us a deeper perspective: seeing the world as a future ruin helps us give proper weight to things. As matter fades, memory remains as the only testimony, transforming the sense of the fall into an opportunity for knowledge.
Coming to the present day, Kiefer’s connection to Milan is now experiencing a new peak thanks to the exhibition Le Alchimiste (The Alchemists). The exhibition, inaugurated on February 7th at the Palazzo Reale, was born from Kiefer’s desire to create a direct dialogue with Milan’s history. Consequently, the choice of the Sala delle Cariatidi is no coincidence: the artist was struck by the walls and ceiling damaged by Allied bombing in 1943. This creates a direct connection with his history, since Kiefer was born under the bombings of World War II.
The works on display are imposing three-dimensional structures that Kiefer often refers to as “palimpsests.” There is no flat surface: the canvas is a base upon which the artist layers the material. Furthermore, many of these sculpture-paintings were left outdoors, allowing the rain to erode the plaster and the sun to crack the resin. For the metal parts, Kiefer uses electrolysis tanks that force the lead to oxidize, creating those white and grey shades that resemble ancient dust. Finally, the artist cements various objects, such as lead books, branches, and clothes, to the canvas, expanding the works into three dimensions.
The result is the staging of a pantheon of monumental female figures: the alchemists. In total, there are 42 works, many of which portray specific historical or mythological figures. An early example is that of Mary the Jewess, who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD. She is credited with inventing the double boiler, the bain-marie, and various distillation instruments, as well as being considered the first true alchemist in history. Her figure emerges from the canvas wearing a ghostly dress, surrounded by glass stills and lead tubes, symbolizing how scientific discovery arises from the chaos of matter. Another female figure depicted, this time directly linked to Milan, is Caterina Sforza. The illegitimate daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan, Caterina was one of the most powerful and controversial figures of the Italian Renaissance. Since her true passion was alchemy, Caterina wrote a recipe book entitled “Gli Experimenti”, containing 500 formulas for curing diseases, creating cosmetics and, as expected of an alchemist, attempting the transmutation of metals.
However, Kiefer’s sculpture-paintings are not just an encyclopaedia of female figures from the past, but 42 unique chapters of a single journey, that of alchemy, during which the artist spiritually evokes several women who played an important role in the process. As a result, in a reality that pushes us toward the immediate and the virtual, Kiefer forces us to confront the resistance of matter and the depth of memory. Walking among these giants works beneath the scarred ceiling of the Sala delle Cariatidi means understanding that every rubble is only the first stage of a greater transformation. Ultimately, by visiting the exhibition Le Alchimiste, which will remain open until September 27, you will have the opportunity to see, once again, how the lead of history can become gold.
My name is Luca Buzzo, and I was born and raised in Genoa. When I was 18, after obtaining a scientific high school diploma, I decided to move to Milan to study at Bocconi University. Currently, I am pursuing a master's degree in Economics and Management in Arts, Culture, Media, and Entertainment (ACME). My interests span across multiple fields but the one I am most interested in are Visual arts, Culture and heritage, Museum studies, Asian studies (in particular China and Hong Kong), Social dynamics and Identity studies.
