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Brünnhilde's Death

1976
Not on view
In Wagner’s version of the Nibelung saga, the lust for wealth and power conflicts with the search for love. The former is symbolized by a magic ring fashioned from gold that was stolen from the Rhine maidens; the latter is personified by the romance of the hero Siegfried and the Valkyrie Brünnhilde. Tricked by the cursed ring, the lovers die, Brünnhilde in a form of self-sacrifice atop Siegfried’s funeral pyre. In Kiefer’s drawing, watercolor and acrylic are used to represent both flame and ash, as well as the waters of the Rhine that rise up to extinguish the flames.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Brünnhilde's Death
  • Artist: Anselm Kiefer (German, born Donaueschingen, 1945)
  • Date: 1976
  • Medium: India ink, watercolor, and acrylic paint with traces of graphite on joined paper
  • Dimensions: 34 3/4 × 17 1/8 in. (88.3 × 43.5 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1995
  • Object Number: 1995.14.21
  • Rights and Reproduction: © Anselm Kiefer
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
Böhmen liegt am Meer (Bohemia Lies by the Sea), Anselm Kiefer German, Oil, emulsion, shellac, charcoal, and powdered paint on burlap
Böhmen liegt am Meer (Bohemia Lies by the Sea)
Anselm Kiefer
1996
Armor, Steel, leather, German, possibly Lower Saxony
Armor
German, possibly Lower Saxony
ca. 1540–50 and later
Television Robot, Robin Winters American, Gouache and india ink with acrylic paint on paper
Television Robot
Robin Winters
1971–80
Saint Eustace, Anselm Kiefer German, Watercolor and gouache with traces of colored pencil on paper
Saint Eustace
Anselm Kiefer
1974
Armor, Steel, leather, German, possibly Lower Saxony
Armor
German, possibly Lower Saxony
ca. 1540–50 and later

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