FAVORITE PIECE OF THE GUGGENHEIM

     Located in Bilbao, the Guggenheim museum is full of masterpieces. Our favorite one is "Die berühmten Orden der Nacht" (The Renowned Orders of the Night) by Anselm Kiefer. 

The Renowned Orders of the Night

    The canvas represent a man laying down on the ground. Over him, the sky takes 3/4 of the painting. The sky is black and full of white stars that are glowing in the dark. The canva is massive ( more than 3m) in order to make the experience even more realistic. We can say that it is a sort of self-portrait because the man on the ground is him. 

Anselm Kiefer

    Kiefer is a German born in 1945 during the World War II. During is childhood, he witnesses all the brutalities that the war has brung to the world. This experience has influenced is art : he often uses references to political figures and he also likes to represent himself lying down on the ground on some of his pieces to express is feeling of loneliness and spirituality. 

A contemporary artist 

    Kiefer is a plastician and a contemporary artist. He incorporates various materials in his paintings such as mud, hair, straw or clay. His art is very spiritual and philosophic, he treats subjects like mythology, history or books. His paintings can seems to be weird or not really modern, but he is : Kiefer is a survivor from the war and he put all his feelings and reflexions into his masterpieces.  

Kiefer's art in Barjac, France

    His philosophy is that art consists of using is spirituality and refelxions in order to find the meaning of life. He also likes to represent the "incomprehensible and non-representational". During his life, he has been controversial due to his action such as making nazi salutes in various places to show how much the nazi ideology was still there. Now, he lives in the south east of France, in Barjac, and he also often moves to Paris. 

By Léa, Béatrice and Eviane