On the face of it there may seem to be little in common between Vincent Van Gogh and his bright colours and the golden sunshine of the South of France and Anselm Kiefer with his giant dark, oppressive paintings set in the murky fields and forests of Germany. But when you look a little further you discover the links are quite strong and they have quite a lot in common.
These connections are explained and explored in the current exhibitions which are at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and, a few meters away, at the Stedelijk Museum. The former is very much a contrast and compare whereas the latter is a sort of mini-retrospective and includes the monumental new piece Sag mir wo die Blumen sind – the German translation of the Pete Seeger 1955 folk song and anthem Where Have All the Flowers Gone? (a song which took on a whole new dimension when performed by Marlene Dietrich). But more of that later.
The Van Gogh/Kiefer connection was established in 1963 when a very earnest and rather nerdy bespectacled eighteen-year-old Kiefer received an award in the form of a travel grant which he chose to use retracing the steps of Van Gogh through Belgium to Paris and on to the South of France. During that trip the young artist kept a travel journal (which subsequently won a prestigious prize), some of the sketches from which have a room to themselves in the Van Gogh Museum. I have been familiar with, and fan of, Kiefer’s work for over forty years but I had never seen these drawings so, for me, they were an eye-opener. The comparison to Van Gogh is difficult to ignore, especially in the quick pencil drawings Kiefer made during the trip. There are portraits of people he met en route many of which are of members of the Dumont family – much as Van Gogh repeatedly depicted the family of postman Roulin.
But most of the drawings are of landscapes, of rural scenes with trees and mountains, vineyards, fields of swaying corn and stacks of bundled straw. These drawings are clearly influenced by Van Gogh but also clearly announce the path on which the German artist would later travel. If there is one element that occurs over and over again in Kiefer’s work it is straw stuck on to his giant canvases. And even as late as 2019, Kiefer, with his painting Die Krähen (The Crows), recreates Van Gogh’s Wheatfield with Crows of 1890.
Most of the huge paintings in the Van Gogh Museum are landscapes, many of which employ the ubiquitous straw and there are even paintings, and a sculpture, of sunflowers lest we forget where we are. There is inevitably a certain sameness to Kiefer’s paintings in this part of the exhibition, but because of its raison d’être, that is not really surprising.
The continuation of the show, a few meters away as the crow flies, in the Stedelijk, is a more comprehensive view of the German’s work. This museum has long history with Kiefer going back to the1980s when it was a keen supporter of his work, culminating in a major show in 1986.
The paintings in the first room I remember seeing in London a long time ago in the Anthony D’Offay and White Cube galleries but there were old(ish) pieces I had not seen before like the almost life-size aeroplane made of lead. The focal point of the Stedelijk show is undoubtedly the new work which gives its name to the Amsterdam exhibition(s). With a total length of over thirty meters the painting (a word that does not adequately describe it) is displayed around the landing of the Stedelijk’s majestic grand staircase. Although this makes an impressive installation it does make it difficult to take in the work as a whole with people, balustrades etc. blocking the view. This is piece that should be seen in its entirety at a distance and that is not possible in its current location. Nevertheless, it is an imposing and impressive piece of work built around petrified workers’ overalls hanging silently below strange figures painted on a golden background.
Despite this being the second major Kiefer show in The Netherlands in not much more than a year (the first was at Museum Voorlinden in The Hague which still has a couple of his concrete towers on permanent display in the dunes behind the house) this is nevertheless a rare opportunity to see the work of someone whom some consider to be the greatest living artist, so don’t miss out. As we say in English, make hay while the sun shines – or in this case straw. Michael Hasted 12th March 2025
Anselm Kiefer’s Sag mir wo die Blumen sind continues at the Van Gogh and Stedelijk Museums in Amsterdam until 9th June 2025
