Black Flakes 2006

Anselm Kiefer created this textured painting titled "Black Flakes," and it presents a landscape laden with symbolic weight. The stark contrast between the dark upper register and the field of white draws the eye immediately. It’s within this field that Kiefer builds his composition. Notice how the vertical lines of the trees, or perhaps grave markers, create a rhythmic structure across the canvas. The added inscriptions, acting as textual layers, complicate any straightforward reading, inviting a semiotic analysis where the landscape becomes a field of signs. The square panel disrupts the painted surface, challenging traditional notions of the picture plane, and pushing the work into a dialogue between painting and sculpture. This panel destabilizes the conventional understanding of landscape painting. It forces us to reconsider how art engages with history and memory. Kiefer uses form to evoke a deep sense of cultural reckoning.