Customer Reviews

Anselm Kiefer

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a beautiful book which covers some of Kiefer's best work in painting as well as his photo-montage and book making activities. A small and eloquent tribute and forward leave adequate room for many full color reproductions (some double-paged) of paintings, large black and white photos taken by the artist, photos of installations and performances and reproductions of selections from his book makings. The reproductions are bright and clear and attempt to give you an adequate view of the texture and matter that Kiefer paints with. Kiefer is one of the most prodigious and poetic artists of our time. He stands out individually in our present, sometimes cynical art atmosphere in the age of post-modern theory. These are magical paintings that contain deep myth and meaning. A truly beautiful book on beautiful and revealing art that can change your view of the world.

An extraordinary tome, with a scale befitting the artist, his ambition and the size of his works. The reproductions are excellent, and many are necessarily spread over two pages without diminishing one's viewing pleasure. Size and fragility preclude many of Kiefer's works appearing in retrospectives, so it is remarkable that this particular overview includes a tremendous array of his unique works of art. I hesitate to use the word 'paintings', simply because Kiefer's current endeavors include a variety of materials with paint being only one component.

The text consists of a number of enlightening interviews with the artist over the years. All provide insight into the work itself and the man who makes it. For detailed analysis of the art, Daniel Arasse's monograph is a better bet. Kiefer's output is prodigious, and from year to year it is difficult for those interested to keep pace with the new work, so any and all books about this artist are welcome additions to one's library. I heartily recommend this recent addition to the catalogue. Mind you bend at the knees before lifting, and handle with care....!

I saw this book in the hard back edition in a shop and came to Amazon to buy it. Whilst trying to purchase the hardback version the system automatically took me to the paper back edition which I bought thinking it was teh same book with an updated cover but in softback. Big mistake. It is inferior to the hard back edition as it has not got many of the images I really wanted. Looking more closely later I saw it has about 100 less pages. Don't be fooled into buying the paper back edition I was very disappointed.

There is so much pain and desolation in Kiefer's paintings... while this is an outstanding book, with a comprehensive and balanced collection of paintings, the genius of Kiefer can only be genuinely experienced by seeing his art at a gallery, in person. His paintings are enormous and overpowering and wring true poetry out of their dual chrome palettes. Buy the book to get a taste of this masterful artist, find the nearest gallery with his paintings and go there. This man dwarfs Picasso and Dali.

This is a deep, thorough and comprehensive look at much of Keifer's oeuvre. It covers different periods of his work and reveals the shared threads of each phase. This book is one of the better ones that I've physically seen, as it has many pages of well-printed photographs and documentation. The text is well written and cogent.

As for the artist, he's compelling and profound. What more can be said?

Kiefer is one of the most easily recognized contemporary artists. This book is what I would call the definitive collection. Awesome value to anyone who follows the artist.

the book was at my entire satifaction, but the conditions that i recived was very bad, though the item was used,the cover was ok, the pages itself were unglued from the cover, due, i figure to very poor handling.
after seen those videos in youtube about ups guys handling items in a very miscare manner...maybe that was the problem