Overview
- The exhibition opened in late June and will be on view at the Royal Academy in London through October 26, 2025.
- Critics praise Kiefer’s immersive use of lead, gold leaf and straw to amplify Van Gogh’s motifs but note that his monumental canvases can overwhelm the smaller originals.
- The show presents Kiefer’s early sketches and diary excerpts from his 1963 initiation journey through France, the Netherlands and Belgium alongside Van Gogh’s own drawings.
- Van Gogh’s originals are displayed to underscore their emotional depth and primal frenzy in stark contrast to Kiefer’s darker reinterpretations of life, death and historical trauma.
- Some reviewers observe that rooms dominated by Kiefer’s expansive works can render Van Gogh’s subtler paintings nearly invisible among the larger pieces.