Anselm Kiefer
A German artist who transforms lead, ash, and straw into monumental, haunting works that confront the ghosts of history and myth.
Born 1945 (age 81)·German painter and sculptor·Birthday: March 8·The Silent Generation
Biography
Born in the final months of World War II, Anselm Kiefer has spent a lifetime building a visual language for the unspeakable. Emerging in the 1970s, he directly challenged the post-war German silence around the Holocaust and national identity, using his art as a form of fraught archaeology. His studios are vast warehouses where paintings evolve into heavy, textured landscapes. He layers his canvases with unconventional materials—straw that blackens and decays, sheets of lead, chunks of clay, and ash—creating surfaces that are physically dense and charged with metaphor. Kiefer draws deeply from literary and spiritual sources, from the fragmented, post-traumatic poetry of Paul Celan to the complex symbolism of the Kabbalah. His work is not merely about destruction; it is about the difficult, slow process of growth that comes after, making him one of the most philosophically weighty and visually arresting artists of our time.
The Silent Generation
1928–1945
Born between the Depression and the end of WWII. Too young to fight, old enough to remember. They became the conformist middle managers of the 1950s — and the civil rights leaders who quietly dismantled Jim Crow.
Anselm was born in 1945, placing them squarely in The Silent Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Anselm Was Born
The biggest hits of 1945
#1 Movie
The Bells of St. Mary's
Best Picture
The Lost Weekend
Anselm's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1945Born
WWII ends; atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $4,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Sentimental Journey" — Les Brown & Doris DayBest Picture: The Lost Weekend
1950Started school
Korean War begins
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,354Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Goodnight Irene" — Gordon Jenkins & The WeaversBest Picture: All About Eve
1958Became a teenager
NASA founded
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Volare" — Domenico ModugnoBest Picture: Gigi
1961Could drive
Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,500Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Tossin' and Turnin'" — Bobby LewisBest Picture: West Side Story
1963Could vote
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1966Turned 21
Star Trek premieres on television
Gas: $0.32/galHome: $14,200Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"The Ballad of the Green Berets" — SSgt Barry SadlerBest Picture: A Man for All Seasons
1975Turned 30
Fall of Saigon ends the Vietnam War
Gas: $0.57/galHome: $27,600Min wage: $2.10/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Love Will Keep Us Together" — Captain & TennilleBest Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1985Turned 40
Live Aid concerts raise money for Ethiopian famine
Gas: $1.12/galHome: $62,900Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Careless Whisper" — Wham!Best Picture: Out of Africa
1995Turned 50
Oklahoma City bombing; Windows 95 released
Gas: $1.15/galHome: $96,500Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Gangsta's Paradise" — CoolioBest Picture: Braveheart
2005Turned 60
Hurricane Katrina devastates New Orleans; YouTube launches
Gas: $2.30/galHome: $167,500Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"We Belong Together" — Mariah CareyBest Picture: Crash
2015Turned 70
Paris climate agreement; same-sex marriage legalized in the US
Gas: $2.43/galHome: $171,900Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Uptown Funk" — Mark Ronson ft. Bruno MarsBest Picture: Spotlight
2025Turned 80
AI agents go mainstream
Gas: $3.10/galHome: $385,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"APT." — Rose & Bruno Mars
2026Age 81 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Awarded the prestigious Praemium Imperiale for painting by the Japan Art Association in 1999.
- His monumental, book-laden installation "The Order of the Night" was a centerpiece of his career-spanning exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.
- Designed and built a sprawling, immersive studio complex on the grounds of a former silk factory in Barjac, France, which itself became a massive artwork.
Did You Know?
He initially studied law and Romance languages before turning to art.
For one of his earliest controversial works, he photographed himself giving the Nazi salute in various European locations.
He created a series of paintings dedicated to the revolutionary 20th-century poet Ingeborg Bachmann.
His studio in France includes underground tunnels and concrete towers incorporated into the landscape.
“Art is difficult. It is not entertainment.”
