拍品 228
  • 228

ANSELM KIEFER | Claudia Quinta

估價
150,000 - 200,000 GBP
Log in to view results
招標截止

描述

  • Anselm Kiefer
  • Claudia Quinta
  • titled
  • oil paint, emulsion, shellac, soil, hair and lead boat on photograph laid on cardboard mounted on wood
  • 60 by 125.7 by 12.2 cm. 23 3/4 by 49 5/8 by 4 7/8 in.
  • Executed in 2005.

來源

Galerie Thaddeus Ropac, Salzburg
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2006

Condition

Colour: The colour in the catalogue illustration is fairly accurate although the overall tonality is slightly deeper and richer in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. The sheet is stapled to the backing board. All collaged elements are stable. There is some wear along the edges with some associated nicks, tears and small specks of loss in places. Close inspection reveals a small speck of loss to the centre of the left edge. All other surface irregularities are in keeping with the artist's working process and choice of media. No restoration is apparent when examined under ultraviolet light.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

拍品資料及來源

In Claudia Qunita Anselm Kiefer explores two concepts that are fundamental to his career: death and resurrection. As a German conceptual artist born in the final months of the Second World War, Kiefer does not shy away from examining his country’s difficult past. Instead, he confronts it with unrelenting honesty in an attempt to redeem his own national identity. Drawing from history, literature, and myth, he is in complete control of a vast pictorial vocabulary, which he deploys to craft intricate and multi-layered paintings. According to Kiefer himself, “Art really is something very difficult. It is difficult to make, and it is sometimes difficult for the viewer to understand” (Anselm Kiefer cited in, 'Interview with Nicholas Wroe', The Guardian, 18 March 2011, online). In this striking composition, a lead submarine, stranded in a barren, desert landscape, scars the surface of the painting. The submarine immediately conjures up memories of Germany’s Nazi past. Even the ashen hair wrapping around the submarine harkens back to German concentration camps where Nazi officers shaved the heads of Jewish men, women, and children. The violence of the painting crashes over the viewer. Through his masterful use of symbols, Kiefer condemns the futility of war, which yields only death and despair. The jagged cracks in the dry soil add to this sense of hopelessness - the very background is decaying like a corpse.

Despite the sense of anguish which seems to overwhelm the painting, Claudia Quinta also hints at redemption. In traditional alchemy, lead is an impure metal associated with death and also the impurities - or sins - of mankind. This reading aligns with Kiefer’s critique of war. However, when purified with fire, lead can be transmuted into gold. In this regard lead represents the potential for the absolution of sin and rebirth. Kiefer has been fascinated by lead throughout his career as he believes it is a material capable of capturing the ambiguity of life: “I feel closest to lead because it is like us. It is in flux. It’s changeable and has the potential to achieve a higher state” (Anselm Kiefer cited in: Exh. Cat., Fort Worth, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Anselm Kiefer: Heaven and Earth, 2005, p. 37).

The title of this work alludes to the mythological account of how a Roman matron embarked on the quest to return the goddess Cybele to her homeland during the punic War. Claudia Quinta, who had an impeccable reputation for being a chaste woman, had been accused of in-chastity, but as her ship washed up and got stuck on a sandbar on the Tiber, Cybele intervened, liberating the ship and restoring Claudia Quinat's reputation. Reminiscent of the scene the submarine in the present work appears to be stranded on a muddy shore, attesting to Kiefer's unique ability to integrate classic mythology, history and science and create his own language.

Kiefer believes that myth can act as a lens through which to see the present, since for him, “The reality was so overwhelming, so incredible that I had to use myths to express my emotions….The reality was too onerous to be real. I had to work through myth to recreate it” (Anselm Kiefer, in: “Interview with Bernard Comment,” Art Press, Paris, September 1998, online). By titling his work Claudia Quinta, Kiefer seems to imply that Germany too can expiate for its sins as a country by acknowledging the horrors of the past and dragging itself out from the symbolic desert.

Through the conflation of German historical symbols with alchemical and mythological references, Kiefer’s work evolves from a dark critique of the Second World War into a hopeful dream for rebirth. Both interpretations coexist, and together they form Kiefer’s nuanced view of history. This dynamic work shifts and unfolds itself as the viewer struggles to understand it with all its complexity.