Kiefer/Van Gogh - the drawings

Kiefer/Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers - the drawings, at the Royal Academy of Arts.

In Arles in the summer of 1963, at the end of his journey in the footsteps of Van Gogh, Kiefer set out to find the landscapes and inhabitants of this southern French town which Van Gogh depicted in his characteristically expressive style. The exhibition featured a selection of the drawings that Kiefer made there, joined by a group of Van Gogh's own works on paper.

I have, as usual, reproduced below, the introduction to the first part of this exhibition. If you have already read it, and do not want to read it again, please scroll down to the first drawing.

Vincent Van Gogh was Anselm Kiefer's first artistic inspiration. In 1963, aged 18, Kiefer received a travel bursary that allowed him to follow in Vincent Van Gogh's foosteps through the Netherlands, Belgium and France, starting in Paris and ending up in Arles in Provence. On Kiefer's travels, which he described as an 'initiation journey', he made drawings in the style of the pioneer of Post-Impressionism, experiencing a profound artistic kinship with him that endures to this day.

'Contrary to what one might expect of a teenager, I was not overly interested in the emotional aspect of Van Gogh's work or in his unhappy life. What impressed me was the rational structure, the confident construction of his paintings, in a life that  was increasingly slipping out of his control'.

A wonderful and thought-provoking exhibition, featuring two of my favourite artists.  An exhibition of a selection of paintings and drawings by Van Gogh together with early sketches by Kiefer, as well as canvases that he painted in 2019 while reflecting on his artistic forebear. Alongside these works others were featured that testify to his continuing influence.

The exhibition explored how both artists have approached common themes - nature, literature, transcience and the universe. 

The works of the two artists are also related through their use of recurring motifs from nature such as earth, fields of wheat, sunflowers and crows, all alluding to the cycle of life. Van Gogh's love for and repeated use of yellow is also mirrored in the works of Kiefer, who sees the Dutch artist's recurrent golden skies and fields as resembling the gilding of religious icons. The influence of Van Gogh on Kiefer can also be seen in relation to the use of compositional devices characterised by elements depicted at close range combined with deep perspectives, high horizon lines and panoramic formats.

Kiefer, like Van Gogh, is deeply influenced by literature and poetry. Van Gogh read widely, once remarking in a letter to his brother Theo: 'books and reality and art are the same kind of thing for me'. Novels he read and sometimes even included in his works often add a further layer of meaning to his paintings and drawings. Kiefer's works frequently relate to mythology or philosophical concepts. He also uses the written word to enhance the meanings of his paintings, sometimes acting as a foil to interrogate their meaning.

Anselm Kiefer, Dr Dumont, 1st President of the Bullfighters in Fourques, 1963, (charcoal, ink and graphite on paper)

Anselm Kiefer, Edith Causse, 12 Years Old, Arles, 1963, (charcoal on paper)

Anselm Kiefer, 1963, (graphite on paper)

Anselm Kiefer, Untitled, 1963, (graphite and ballpoint pen on paper)

Anselm Kiefer, Untitled, 1963, (graphite and ballpoint pen on paper)

Anselm Kiefer, Untitled, 1963, (graphite on paper)

Vincent Van Gogh, Avenue of Poplars, 1884, (pencil, penk and ink on paper)

Vincent Van Gogh, Country Road, 1882, (pencil, pen and brush and ink, watercolour on paper)

Van Gogh used the reed screens shielding the market gardens from the wind and drifting sand to reinforce its strong linear perspective. The landscape's otherworldly light, the naked trees, two lone figures - one working in the garden, the other walking down the road - and a single bird in the sky imbue this work with a sense of melancholy.

Vincent Van Gogh, Landscape with Figures Pushing Wheelbarrows, 1890, (pencil on paper)

Van Gogh, La Crau Seen from Montmajour, 1888, (pencil, pen and reed pen and ink on paper)