Landscapes with High Horizon Lines, Shot Through with Blood and Shrapnel


Nearly every work from Kiefer takes up a wall or a room. Credit… Ilvy Njiokiktjien for The New York Times. [New York Times caption and illustration]

His layers of paint, a mudlike impasto, oil and acrylic paints mixed with raw materials like soil, iron, straw and dead leaves, form deep furrows on the canvas. These landscapes, with van Gogh’s high horizon lines, all seem to be ruins, shot through with blood and shrapnel.


Kiefer’s “Under the Lime Tree on the Heather” and Vincent van Gogh’s “Wheatfield With Partridge” at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which juxtaposes Kiefer’s landscape paintings with van Gogh works. Credit… Ilvy Njiokiktjien for The New York Times. [New York Times caption and illustration]

(Nina Siegal, “Anselm Kiefer Wonders If We’ll Ever Learn,” New York Times, 3-7-2025)

Earth to Anselm Kiefer: The answer is no.

(c) 2025 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved

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About JMN

I live in Texas and devote much of my time to easel painting on an amateur basis. I stream a lot of music, mostly jazz, throughout the day. I like to read and memorize poetry.
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3 Responses to Landscapes with High Horizon Lines, Shot Through with Blood and Shrapnel

  1. JosieHolford's avatar JosieHolford says:

    That’s definitive!

    Liked by 2 people

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