Broken Flowers and Grass

1979

Not on view

The title of this work comes from a poem by Walther von der Vogelweide (1170–1230), whose subjects include sensual love and contemporary political issues. The poem is a famous example of medieval romantic verse: "Under the linden tree / on the heath / where we two had our bed / you can still see / lovely broken / flowers and grass." Deciding that the watercolor landscape was too picturesque, Kiefer cancelled it out with looping lines of graphite and dabs of paint added straight from the tube. He did not conceive the drawing with the poem in mind but added it later, probably as he was working, as if to propose one possible meaning for what is one of his most compelling and, at first glance, most abstract works on paper.

Artwork Details

Title: Broken Flowers and Grass
Artist: Anselm Kiefer (German, born Donaueschingen, 1945)
Date: 1979
Medium: Watercolor, opaque watercolor, acrylic, and graphite on paper
Dimensions: 14 1/4 × 18 3/4 in. (36.2 × 47.6 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Gift of Cynthia Hazen Polsky, in memory of her father, Joseph H. Hazen, 2000
Object Number: 2000.96.6
Rights and Reproduction: © Anselm Kiefer
Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

More Artwork

By Anselm Kiefer

In the same medium

From the same time and place

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Morgenthau Plan, Anselm Kiefer German, Acrylic, emulsion, oil, and shellac on inkjet prints mounted on canvas — Morgenthau Plan
Anselm Kiefer
2012

Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom, Anselm Kiefer German, Gouache, sand, ash and charcoal on two torn and pasted photographs — Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom
Anselm Kiefer
2000

Autumn Forest, Anselm Kiefer German, Watercolor, opaque watercolor, and graphite on papers — Autumn Forest
Anselm Kiefer
1970

Wild Emperor, Anselm Kiefer German, Watercolor and acrylic on paper — Wild Emperor
Anselm Kiefer
1975

Brünnhilde's Death, Anselm Kiefer German, India ink, watercolor, and acrylic on joined paper — Brünnhilde's Death
Anselm Kiefer
1976

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