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2mo ago

Kiefer / Van Gogh Show at Royal Academy Pits Monumental Apocalyptic Works Against Primal Depth

The exhibition highlights Kiefer’s large-scale reinterpretations of Van Gogh alongside the artist’s early 1963 sketches and diary extracts.

Installation view of the ‘Kiefer / Van Gogh’ exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London (28 June - 26 October 2025), showing Anselm Kiefer, The Crows (Die Krähen), 2019
Artist Anselm Kiefer pictured in front of a textured, meadow-like painting
Image

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.