Kiefer/Van Gogh

Clever exhibition at the Royal Academy examining the influence of Van Gogh on Anselm Kiefer.

I’m glad I’d done a lecture on the topic as the connections weren’t always clear from the blurb. They not only look at similar subjects of rural life but at 18 Kiefer undertook a tour of places Van Gogh travelled and studied his technique.

I love the monumentality of Kiefer and the paintings looked great in the space but they dwarfed the Van Gogh’s which were mainly corralled in the central room. It might have worked better to show the Van Gogh’s first then open up into the Kiefer.

There was one Van Gogh after Millet which created a nice link to the two shows at the National Gallery at the moment and I guess therefore a link from Millet to Kiefer.

Closed 26 October 2025


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