Walhalla 2016

Anselm Kiefer made this painting, Walhalla, with oil paint and other materials, maybe straw or ash, to build up a cracked and uneven surface. The dark blues and browns are contrasted with these vertical structures of ochre, suggesting some sort of architecture. I can imagine Kiefer layering the paint, scraping it back, and then building it up again. These aren’t pristine monuments, but something ruined or decaying. I wonder, what was on his mind? Maybe he was thinking of history, of myths, of memory. It's somber, but there's a strange beauty, too, isn't there? Kiefer uses these kinds of vertical marks a lot in his work, which reminds me of other painters like Barnett Newman or even Agnes Martin, who were also dealing with this problem of how to make a mark that has presence and also vulnerability. What connects all these artists is the sense of touch, the physical struggle, to arrive at an image.