One of Kiefer’s recent work, ‘VORMEIN manchmal, freilich, stirbt der Himmel unseren Scherben voraus’, was exhibited at Artbael 2022 (Hall2, D4). During Byvision’s one week stay in Basel, this is one of the most impressive masterpieces which stuns us every single time we pass by. It reminds me about his early work during the 1970s with the intuitive expression on the canvas, magnificant and shocking.
It was created by Kiefer in his studio near Paris during the epidemic period. It first came into public’s view in November 2021 at the exhibition at Galerie Bastian in Berlin, and was brought to the ArtBasel2022 site by Galerie KEWENIG Berlin in June 2022.
Kiefer loves melancholy words, and the title of this piece is a reference to a poem by the French-born Bukovina Jewish poet Paul Celan:
„VORMEIN manchmal, freilich, stirbt der Himmel unseren Scherben voraus“
