(born in Donaueschingen in 1945)
Nascita di Venere, 2012, titled, watercolour,
pencil on paper (in 2 parts), 61 x 50 cm, framed

Provenance:
Studio of the artist
Charité Berlin (gift of the artist for a charity auction)
Private Collection, Germany - acquired from the above

Exhibited:
Galerie Kewenig, Berlin/Palma de Mallorca, Art Basel 2018

In his sublime watercolour Nascita di Venere,
Anselm Kiefer references the ancient legend of the birth of Venus, which was handed down by Hesiod. The goddess of sea foam, Aphrodite (Venus in Latin), was reported to have emerged from sea foam in Cyprus after the blood and semen from Uranus’ castrated genitals had mixed with the water of the sea. In Greek mythology, Venus was born from a shell which, according to the ancients, was produced from sea foam and became a symbol of the sea. Like Sandro Botticelli in his work La Nascita di Venere (“The Birth of Venus”), Anselm Kiefer also depicts Venus in a large, open scallop shell. In Kiefer’s watercolour, only Venus’ head lies within the large shell as she sleeps.
Anselm Kiefer’s watercolours did not act as studies. Rather, they are reviews, derived from the current stage of his work, which he used to check what he had achieved and to drive it further forward. The works on paper are characterised by complex techniques, as are his paintings and installations. In his oeuvre, Anselm Kiefer repeatedly picks up on the theme of the “birth of Venus” and deals with Greek mythology in a variety of ways.