Die Donauquelle (The Source of the Danube)

Details

Anselm Kiefer (b. 1945)
Die Donauquelle (The Source of the Danube)
oil, sand and burlap on canvas mounted on front and back of book
12 x 8 x 2in. (30.4 x 20.3 x 5cm.)
Executed in 1988

Provenance

Galerie Paul Maenz, Cologne.
Acquired from the above by the present owner circa 1989.

Special Notice

Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.

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Lot Essay

Die Donauquelle (The Source of the Danube) depicts Kiefer's exploration of a mythological subject within the artist's larger view of the relationship between art and nature. The book contains several recurring themes in Kiefer's work, specifically that of the idea of the 'palette' possessing both human and spiritual attributes.

Speaking of Die Donauquelle, Mark Rosenthal notes: "That [Kiefer] should focus once again on water is not surprising...These associations with birth and death, destruction and regeneration, establish a context for the watery setting in which the palette arises...the birth of the palette is...the first stage of life." (M. Rosenthal, Anselm Kiefer, Chicago and Philadelphia 1987, pp. 72-74).

Die Donauquelle (The Source of the Danube)

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Lot Essay

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