STATEMENT ABOUT SOCIETY
STATEMENT ABOUT SOCIETY
STATEMENT ABOUT SOCIETY
AGAINST WAR & VIOLENCE
AGAINST WAR & VIOLENCE
AGAINST WAR & VIOLENCE
GLORIFYING HUMAN BEAUTY
GLORIFYING HUMAN BEAUTY
EXPRESSING HAPPINESS
EXPRESSING HAPPINESS
EXPRESSING HAPPINESS
FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN
FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN
FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN
Anselm Kiefer painted Lot’s Wife in 1989. This 11’x14’ painting is oil, polymer emulsion
and salt on canvas. The canvas is attached to plywood panels. The subject matter of this
work is a landscape with old railroad tracks running from the foreground almost to the
horizon line.
The sky is cloud filled and the horizon line cuts the painting almost in half.
Outline is not used as a technique in this painting. Colors meet each other with no dark
colors emphasizing the outlines of color areas or objects.
There is a three dimensional quality to this work. There is great depth in the picture
plane of this work. The depth is created through the use of converging parallel lines in the
rail road tracks. The illusion of depth is also created by the sharpness of detail in the
foreground and the blurring of the detail as the eye approaches the horizon line. There are
few objects in this painting but the railroad tracks have a three dimensional quality
because of the use of dark and light planes.
The focal point of the work is a point on the horizon line that is a little to the right of
center. Kiefer uses line to direct the viewer to this focal point with the sharp delineation of
the tracks. Line is not an element used any where else in the painting, making the lines in
the tracks a powerful visual force. From this point on the horizon line the eye moves down
the tracks to the left corner of the work. From there the eye moves up the side to the bank
of clouds. The eye is pushed back down to the horizon line by a hook shape in the clouds
directing the eye down. The eye is guided through Lot’s Wife by the use of repetition of
shapes and colors. The irregular shapes of blue/gray found in the sky are repeated in
blue/gray shapes on the ground. Ground forms are smaller than the sky forms but they
mirror the shape and color found in the sky. This repetition of color and shape leads the
eye to the horizon line.
The balance of this work is asymmetrical. This asymmetrical balance is achieved by the
work being dived in half horizontally with an even weight on top and on bottom. The
whiteness of the clouds balance the visual force of the converging parallel lines of the
railroad tracks.
The whiteness of the clouds next to the dark blue/grays of the landscape and sky
provide the work with a great contrast of light and dark. The color scheme is almost
monochromatic. The work is built on value changes of blue/gray and brown. These colors
are true to life, given the nature of this scorched landscape. The limited use of colors and
the low intensity of the colors used are important to the work. If the colors were bright and
varied the work would not have the same content.
Kiefer does uses symbolism in this work. The rail road track is an image that denotes
destination. The artist refrains from using obvious symbols like a dead tree to empower the
painting. The gray symbolizes sadness with the blue contrasting that bleakness and
providing a glimmer of hope.
The notion of being trapped is the content of this painting. The viewer can not leave the
barren landscape. The railroad tracks almost take one to the horizon line but not quite to
the blue sky. The viewer is lost/trapped in a world that is unfriendly and larger than reality.
The actual size of this work over powers the viewer, pulling one into the dismal space. The
texture used on the painting makes it less a painted image and more an actual place. The
viewer is overwhelmed by the painting’s presence.
I was very moved by this painting. I found myself physically reacting to the work. I
needed to step back and move away from the work. As I contemplated the painting I
thought about world conditions and the inability of human kind to find the right road away
from war and self inflicted destruction. I want art to take me to a contemplative level and
this painting by Kiefer succeeded in doing this.