Anselm Kiefer

Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above in 1982

Venice, XXXIX Biennale, Anselm Kiefer: Verbrennen, verholzen, versenken, versanden, Eindhoven, 1980, illustrated

This work is in very good and stable condition overall. There are faint signs of wear and handling along the edges, covers and corners of the book. There is evidence of time staining to the edges of the pages.
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“Compared to the brilliant mises-en-scène of the huge canvases, the picture sequences caught in book form often are more direct in their expression, and more sober and exposed… The books’ provocativeness, their rich allusiveness and experimental materiality, take place behind closed doors, so to speak and are therefore all the more, and lastingly, effective.” (Götz Adriani, The Books of Anselm Kiefer 1969 -1990, New York, 1991, p. 11)

Executed in 1978, Helgoland – Hoffmann Von Fallersleben is a prime example of Anselm Kiefer’s mastery of the artist’s book. Through a range of stark black and white photographic compositions, Kiefer creates powerful images utilizing tonality, texture and light to create images of haunting beauty. Carefully constructed and emotionally charged, the highly symbolic imagery becomes the primary means of communication and representation.

Central to the narrative is a toy battleship, floating within a metal bathtub, and roughly hewn blocks of ice rise from the icy water like snowcapped mountains. The theme references the Nazi regime's 1940 plot to invade the United Kingdom via the English Channel with a naval fleet. Growing up in the aftermath of World War II and Nazi Germany, Kiefer was witness to the resulting damage and destructive powers of war. His artistic practice translates these horrific, catastrophic events into contemplative reflections on the nature of existence and the human condition. Helgoland – Hoffmann Von Fallersleben captures the melancholic mood of post-war Germany.

Alongside his monumental paintings and sculptural installations, Kiefer’s intimate series of artist’s books have played a central role in his practice since the late 1960s. These books are mainly unique, hand-made pieces integrating a variety of methods and techniques. Powerful and evocative, the compositions act as a vessel for ideas, forming an integral component of his practice and directly informing the process and development of his oeuvre.

Kiefer selected the present work as part of his exhibition for the German Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 1980. Displayed alongside the sculptures of Georg Baselitz, the artists directly confronted the past of Nazi Germany – a highly controversial exhibition and pivotal moment in introducing Kiefer to an international audience. The title of the book draws reference to German poet August Heinrich Hoffmann Von Fallersleben (1798 – 1874). In 1841 on a visit to Helgoland, a North Sea island - then under the possession of the United Kingdom, Hoffmann Von Fallersleben wrote the lyrics to Das Lied der Deutschen, a song promoting German nationalism and democracy, whose stanzas have been adopted in various versions of the German national anthem since 1922.