Currently not on view
Currently not on view
Huge expansive landscapes are a central motif in the art of Anselm Kiefer, born in Germany in 1945, the year World War II ended. Kiefer's landscapes bear witness to centuries of conflict and devastation on German soil.
The word nigredo, written in the upper-left corner, refers to alchemy, the medieval "science" that sought to transform earth into gold through a process of burning. Nigredo, the first stage of transformation, is characterized by blackening, followed by the emergence of a glowing light.
Currently not on view
| Title: | Nigredo |
| Date: | 1984 |
| Artist: | Anselm Kiefer (German, born 1945) |
| Medium: | Oil, acrylic, emulsion, shellac, and straw on photograph and woodcut, mounted on canvas |
| Dimensions: | 10 feet 10 inches × 18 feet 2 1/2 inches (330.2 × 555 cm) |
| Classification: | Paintings |
| Credit Line: | Gift of the Friends of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in celebration of their twentieth anniversary, 1985 |
| Accession Number: | 1985-5-1 |
| Geography: | Made in Europe |
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Currently not on view