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Virginia Woolf

ca. 1975
Not on view
This two-part work pays homage to the English writer Virginia Woolf (1882–1941), whose novels Kiefer and his wife, Julia (who probably served as the model for the dreaming head above), admired. In the lower sheet, fire and water are combined, as they are at the end of Wagner's monumental Ring Cycle—here, in the form of a tiny ship aflame at sea. Rapture and watery death—references, perhaps, to Woolf's seaside novel To the Lighthouse (1927) or her suicide by drowning or perhaps the German army's failed attempt to cross the English Channel during "Operation Sea Lion" (1940)—are explored in this subtle, evocative pairing.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Virginia Woolf
  • Artist: Anselm Kiefer (German, born Donaueschingen, 1945)
  • Date: ca. 1975
  • Medium: Watercolor, opaque watercolor and graphite on paper
  • Dimensions: a: 14 1/8 × 18 3/4 in. (35.8 × 47.7 cm)
    b: 11 5/8 × 16 7/16 in. (29.5 × 41.7 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1995
  • Object Number: 1995.14.20a, b
  • Rights and Reproduction: © Anselm Kiefer
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

More Artwork

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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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