On Every Mountain Peak There Is Peace

1971

Not on view

Kiefer based this watercolor on photographs he had taken near the barren but beautiful coast of what was then Yugoslavia and titled it after a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832). Goethe's "Wanderers Nachtlied" (Wanderer's Nightsong), well known in Germany, begins, "On every mountain peak / there is peace." The artist said he was attracted to the poem because "it makes a connection between human beings and landscape and means something more important, that you . . . will enter into the same cycle of life and death as nature."

Artwork Details

Title: On Every Mountain Peak There Is Peace
Artist: Anselm Kiefer (German, born Donaueschingen, 1945)
Date: 1971
Medium: Watercolor and gouache on paper
Dimensions: 12 1/2 x 18 7/8 in. (31.8 x 47.9 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1995
Object Number: 1995.14.8
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

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

Pool Parlor, Jacob Lawrence American, Watercolor and gouache on paper — Pool Parlor
Jacob Lawrence
1942

Saint Eustace, Anselm Kiefer German, Watercolor and gouache with traces of colored pencil on paper — Saint Eustace
Anselm Kiefer
1974

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please contact us using the form below. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.

Send feedback

Content Notice

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world, and our online collection reflects ongoing work conducted over the course of our more than 150-year history. You may encounter objects or images that may be inappropriate for some viewers or information that may be outdated.