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From 1965 to 1970, Anselm Kiefer studied Romance languages and law. At this time he was already devoting himself to the art of painting. From 1966 to 1968 he studied painting in Freiburg. In 1969 he moved to the Karlsruhe Art Academy, where he was a student of Horst Antes. In the same year, Kiefer provoked people with a Hitler salute in Switzerland, France and Italy. He had himself photographed in this pose with the aim of raising awareness of the topic of German Nazi history. He gave the photo series the title "Occupations". This act was not only directed against forgetting - he later underlined this aspect in his visual and material works - but was also intended to draw attention to the numerous roots of culture in the Third Reich.
Anselm Kiefer repeatedly addressed this topic in his work. From 1970 to 1972 he attended Joseph Beuys's classes at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. In this phase he followed the expressive movement and realized his works in the style of Georg Baselitz. Wooden interiors were created that he associated with mythologies and ideologies of German history, such as the image titles "Parsifal" or "Friedrich II." betrayed. He designed the paintings with a thick application of paint, which he not only changed using ax blows or fire, but also supplemented with lead, fabric and other materials.
He titled the destruction of such politically motivated material works, among other things, "Painting of the Scorched Earth" (1974) or "Image Controversy" (1976, 1977, 1978, 1980). The subject of his painting and the artistic language of expression were closely connected. With his combination of art and political statement, Kiefer also sparked controversial discussions - even on an international level. Kiefer repeatedly used symbolic, suggestive and mythical elements from German history in his pictures. His teacher Joseph Beuys led him on this path. In doing so, Kiefer fulfilled the intention of the analytical and provocative function that his art has to fulfill for him.
In this intentional functionality, he repeatedly crossed the boundaries of taboo subject areas, such as German National Socialism. With many of his works, Anselm Kiefer draws on history painting. At the end of the eighties he concentrated on the Jewish secret teachings and mysticism of Kabbalah. He implemented his work in this regard artistically and created large lead sculptures with titles such as "Bistromland" (1986 - 1989) and "Poppy and Memory" (1989). For the selected themes of his paintings and sculptures, he specifically chose designs as photo processing, watercolors or woodcuts that complement his work. Many of the artist's works hang in international museums.
Kiefer also regularly appeared with his works at the documenta exhibition in Kassel. In addition to paintings, he creates woodcuts and watercolors. He also paints over photos and books. In 1999, Anselm Kiefer was awarded the "Praemium Imperiale" by the Japan Art Association for his life's work. At the end of October 2007, he unveiled a commissioned work he had created in the Louvre in Paris. In 2008, Kiefer was the first visual artist to be awarded the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade.
