“Our stories begin in the forest”
—Anselm Kiefer
For his sublime paintings and monumental installations, Anselm Kiefer takes inspiration from thousands of years of civilisation, literature and philosophy to encapsulate the epic nature of time and challenge established histories. Wege der Weltweisheit (Ways of Worldly Wisdom) belongs to the series of woodcut collages of the same name, executed in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Compiling fourteen portraits of major figures in German history excised from the visual culture of Nationalist Socialism, the present work subverts the trope of heroic history painting and confronts the mythologisation of national identity in a powerfully conceptual yet typically material manner. Kiefer exhibited three works from the series at his breakthrough exhibition in the 39th Venice Biennale in 1980, representing the Federal Republic of Germany. Testament to their significance, other examples can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museo Guggenheim Bilbao, among others.
Born in Germany at the close of the Second World War, Anselm Kiefer belongs to a generation of artists such as Georg Baselitz and Gerhard Richter who confront their complicated national history and reflect on the reconstitution of a fragmented identity through their artistic practices. In the present work, Kiefer has collaged woodcut sheets portraying significant figures including German/Prussian military leader Helmuth Graf Von Moltke (1800-1891) who pioneered modern military techniques for the German army; philosopher and Nazi party member Martin Heidegger (1889-1976); and Hermann (Arminius) (circa 18 BC-21 AD), who had commanded several Germanic tribes against the Romans and became mythologised as a guardian of the German people. These stylised statuesque portraits were primarily sourced from Face of the German Leader: 200 Portraits of German Fighters and Pioneers across 2000 Years, published in 1937 by contemporary fascists to celebrate and legitimise the notion of a genealogical nationalism. The conglomeration of portraits is reminiscent of an archive, conceptually and visually homogenising each personage in a manner similar to Gerhard Richter’s 48 Portraits (1971-1972). In this way, Kiefer calls into question the relationship between history and visual culture by coopting these images of images, presenting these figures as icons whose status is friable.
Rendered through woodcut in reference to the popular prints of German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer, the figures are collaged in a non-hierarchical spiral, linked by ensnaring branches picked out with impastoed black oil paint. Imposed against the backdrop of a forest, thick tree rings seep into the modelled faces of the figures who appear as archaic totems within the landscape. The idealisation of the German forest, with its origins in folklore and fairytale, regained popularity during the Romantic period, becoming a crucial symbol of pride as nationalism gathered force across the nation. In the present work, Kiefer has redeployed iconography entrenched in the German psyche to demonstrate how the production of national identity is a nebulous and intertwining process.
The spiralling branches meet at an entropic centre engulfed by a blazing fire, articulated through the application of shellac. Orange flames ripple through the surface of the work and the figures to the right are choked by dense grey smoke. Kiefer presents the viewer with a group portrait that burns in front of our eyes. Fire is a recurring motif in Kiefer’s oeuvre, infusing his post-apocalyptic landscapes with a destruction and despair that reflects an existential world torn apart by the horrors witnessed in the 20th Century. However, Kiefer has spoken of the use of fire in his art as a force for good: ‘I illuminate the forest in such a way that it could ignite ... To bring fire like Prometheus’.i Fire can be seen instead for its qualities of renewal, its presence destructive yet hopeful for a civilization which becomes wiser through its confrontation and understanding of a history both benevolent and evil. As such, in Wege der Weltweisheit, Kiefer immortalises his figures in a monumental, perpetual cremation that exists as an enduring reminder of the essentially malleable nature of history and nationhood.
