‘Anselm Kiefer: Becoming the Sea’ will be the first comprehensive US exhibition of the renowned German artist in over two decades
ST. LOUIS, Nov. 26, 2024—The Saint Louis Art Museum will present a landmark exhibition of the work of Anselm Kiefer, one of the most influential and provocative artists of our time. “Anselm Kiefer: Becoming the Sea” will be the first comprehensive survey of Kiefer’s work in the United States in more than 20 years and will present works from the 1960s to the present. The show will occupy approximately 30,000 square feet of gallery space—making it SLAM’s largest single exhibition in decades—and will be presented with free admission for all visitors. “Anselm Kiefer: Becoming the Sea” will open Oct. 18 and run through Jan. 25, 2026.
“Since the 1990s, Anselm Kiefer’s work has continued to change while retaining its ability to plumb the most profound depths of human history, from the psychological and visceral to the political,” said Min Jung Kim, the Barbara B. Taylor Director of the Saint Louis Art Museum. “This exhibition offers a rare opportunity to trace Kiefer’s artistic development, from mid-career works to the latest chapter of his continuing evolution. In tandem with an exhibition of his early works at the Ashmolean Museum and an exhibition jointly presented by the Van Gogh Museum and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, which will then travel to the Royal Academy, SLAM’s wide-ranging show will be an important milestone during this important year.”
Curated by Min Jung Kim, with assistance from Melissa Venator, SLAM’s Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Assistant Curator of Modern Art, the exhibition will showcase a compelling blend of Kiefer’s iconic works and new pieces created over the last three decades. In addition to “Brennstäbe” (Fuel Rods, 1984-87), an important work from SLAM’s collection, it will draw from significant loans from American museums and private collections. The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue with contributions by Kiefer scholars, as well as previously unpublished archival material.
Anselm Kiefer, German, born 1945; “Brennstäbe” (Fuel Rods), 1984–87; oil, acrylic emulsion, and shellac on canvas with lead, copper wire, straw, iron, and ceramic; 130 1/4 inches x 18 feet 3 inches; Saint Louis Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Pulitzer Jr., by exchange 108:1987a-c; © Anselm Kiefer
The exhibition will also include several new works from Kiefer’s studio, including recent paintings of the Mississippi and Rhine rivers, drawing evocative parallels between the symbolic resonance of the two waterways and linking Kiefer’s thematic explorations of time, geography and the eternal flow of human history across the spectrum of the exhibition. A large-scale painting depicting the Mississippi refers to the artist’s 1991 visit to St. Louis, when he traveled by boat to see a newly constructed lock-and-dam complex just north of the city. It will be installed in the Sculpture Hall of SLAM’s original Cass Gilbert-designed building from 1904—created as part of the World’s Fair, which itself was a celebration of the importance of the Mississippi River in the ongoing industrial development of the United States.
SLAM’s relationship with Kiefer began in 1983, when the museum organized “Expressions: New Art from Germany,” a traveling show that introduced American audiences to Neo-Expressionism, and which included works by Kiefer. The exhibition toured extensively, traveling to six venues, including what would become MoMA PS1. In 1987, the museum acquired its first Kiefer work, “Brennstäbe” (Fuel Rods). Its second, “Bruch der Gefäße” (Breaking of the Vessels, 1990) in 1991, was accompanied by a visit from Kiefer to oversee the work’s installation. It subsequently acquired “Heliogabal” (1974), a gift from Mr. and Mrs. John Wooten Moore in 2001, and “Des Malers Atelier” (The Painter’s Studio, 1983), a partial gift from Betsy Millard in 2003.
The ongoing acquisition of these works by Kiefer are part of the museum’s long-term collecting strategy: SLAM has one of the largest and most diverse collections of 20th-century German art in the U.S. That collection was jump-started by artist Max Beckmann’s arrival in St. Louis in 1947. In 1950, SLAM presented the first exhibition of Beckmann’s work in this country. Following that exhibition, St. Louis-based collector Morton D. May began to acquire many Beckmann works, building what would become the world’s largest collection of the artist’s paintings.
When Morton May died in 1983, he bequeathed his collection to the museum, which further spurred SLAM to prioritize acquisitions of important works by contemporary German artists. Totaling more than 2,500 objects by artists from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the museum’s holdings include strengths in German Expressionism—which, in addition to Beckmann, include paintings by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Paul Klee, Käthe Kollwitz, Paula Modersohn-Becker and Max Pechstein—and postwar German art, including important works by Joseph Beuys, Georg Baselitz, A.R. Penck and Gerhard Richter.
About Anselm Kiefer
Born in Donaueschingen, Germany, in 1945, Anselm Kiefer is one of the most significant artists of the post-World War II era, known for his unflinching examination of Germany’s complex historical legacy and broader themes of cultural memory and human existence. Working across diverse media including painting, sculpture and installation, Kiefer creates monumental works characterized by their raw, tactile surfaces and incorporation of unconventional materials such as lead, ash, clay and dried flowers. His distinctive artistic practice, which began in the 1960s and saw him develop an international recognition by the 1980s, has consistently pushed the boundaries of contemporary art while engaging with profound questions about civilization, spirituality, and the cyclical nature of destruction and renewal.
A master of material and scale, Kiefer’s work is distinguished by its ambitious scope and intellectual depth, drawing inspiration from sources as varied as poetry, literature, history, mysticism and mythology. His massive canvases and installations, often housed in purpose-built spaces, confront viewers with layered narratives that interweave personal and collective memory, addressing themes of loss, redemption and the persistence of history in contemporary life. Through his fearless engagement with difficult historical subjects and his innovative use of materials, Kiefer has influenced generations of artists, earned numerous accolades and been the focus of exhibitions around the world.
CONTACT: Molly Morris, molly.morris@slam.org, 314.655.5250
