Heroische Sinnbilder [Heroic Symbols]
About this artwork
From the beginning of his artistic career in the 1960s Anselm Kiefer has drawn his subjects from Germany’s cultural traditions and its troubled history. In particular he has been interested in expressions of ideology in German art, architecture, literature and philosophy, and the ways in which the Nazis turned the close interrelationship between the nation’s aesthetic traditions and politics into a system of mass delusion and terror. This is one of a series of photographs documenting Kiefer’s performances from the summer and autumn of 1969 which he collectively titled 'Heroische Sinnbilder (Heroic Symbols)'. The series is best known for Kiefer’s re-enactments of the Hitler salute in various historically and culturally charged locations. However, the symbolism of this particular image harks back to nineteenth-century German Romanticism, the harbinger of a nationalist ideology that was later appropriated and transformed by the Nazis.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Anselm Kiefer (born 1945) German
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title:Heroische Sinnbilder [Heroic Symbols]
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date created:1969
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materials:Photograph, black and white, on paper
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measurements:77.50 x 53.40 cm
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object type:
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credit line:ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Acquired jointly through The d’Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Art Fund, 2011
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accession number:AR01163
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gallery:
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subject:
Anselm Kiefer
Anselm Kiefer
The German artist Anselm Kiefer gained prominence in 1969 with a series of photographs called 'Occupations', in which he was pictured giving the Nazi salute in various locations in Europe. This was Kiefer's first attempt to deal with Germany's recent cultural and political history, an ongoing theme...