Images can be as eloquent as language can be loaded. A post-war Germany struggling to rebuild a national identity that could celebrate culture and history without straying into jingoistic belligerence…it all sounds so very familiar in early 2025. (Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it, etc.)
Examining the early works of visual artists whose oeuvre is best known as post-figurative is often revelatory. The exquisite line detail of early Dali landscapes; the fractal shimmers of Mondrian trees; the sinuous elegance of a Picasso pencil sketch — there is much to study in the genetic continuum that, over time, gives way to the more stridently conceptual later works.
In the case of Anselm Kiefer, a selection of whose early works goes on display this February at the Ashmolean, the limitations of figurative depiction fuel a strengthening of metaphor and symbolism to the point where the canvas almost groans with the strain. From an artist whose first serious work — Occupations — graphically confronted Germany’s Nazi past, the spectre of history’s nightmare is rarely absent in his painting. Few quotidian words can be as loaded as ‘Wald’, (the German for forest, but carrying connotations of human darkness that are inescapable). Kiefer’s painting of the same name, in all its unsettling filmic portent, Is by itself good reason to take a visit to the exhibition.
Excerpt from press materials:
Anselm Kiefer: Early Works is a landmark exhibition of the preeminent German artist on the occasion of his eightieth birthday. Presenting 45 early works made during the period 1969–82 the exhibition features paintings, watercolours, artist books, photos and woodcuts, rarely displayed in the UK before. Also included are three new paintings from Kiefer’s own collection, chosen by the artist especially for the Ashmolean show.

Anselm Kiefer (b. 1945)
Margarethe – Sulamit (Margaret – Shulamite), 1981
Watercolour on paper, 42 x 56 cm
Hall Collection. Courtesy of the Hall Art
Foundation. © Anselm Kiefer
The exhibition opens with three recent paintings chosen by the artist to complement the selection of early works drawn from the private Hall Collection. They showcase the development and continuity in Kiefer’s work, introducing viewers to his unique and uncompromising practice. The pictures take their titles from poems by Rainer Maria Rilke, highlighting the use of text and literary references, particularly in the German language, which has been an essential part of Kiefer’s art since the beginning. His recurring interest in historical, cultural, and personal memory is also clearly visible in these new paintings.

Watercolour on paper, 17 x 24 cm
Hall Collection. Courtesy of the Hall Art
Foundation. © Anselm Kiefer. Photo: Adam Reich
Dr Lena Fritsch, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Ashmolean Museum, says: ‘This exhibition showcases the signature themes, subjects, and styles of Kiefer’s art, while also providing a more personal context for the large-scale installations with which he is often associated today. The works feature references to recent German history as well as to Romanticism and Expressionism, ancient Nordic mythology, and wider European philosophy, science, spirituality, and culture. In presenting this exhibition, the Ashmolean has felt a strong sense of responsibility to translate and explain the relevant German contexts and cultural memories that make Kiefer’s early works so multi-layered, strong, and poignant.’
Exhibition: Anselm Kiefer: Early Works
Dates: 14 February–15 June 2025
Venue: John Sainsbury Exhibition Galleries, Floor 3, Ashmolean
Museum, Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2PH
Open: Daily, 10:00–17:00
Admission: £7.65–£17.00, tickets available at the Museum or online

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. – Aristotle