New Kiefer/Van Gogh exhibition is a 'must-see' and 'absolute winner' at the Royal Academy, London

By Theresa Thompson, TT's Arts Correspondent

Vincent van Gogh, Field with Irises near Arles, 1888. Oil on canvas, 54 x 65 cm. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

Sometimes an exhibition really does deserve to be described as a “must-see”. The opening gallery of the RA’s latest exhibition, juxtaposing artworks by Anselm Kiefer and Vincent Van Gogh confirms this one as an absolute winner.

Four massive artworks by the contemporary German artist take over the walls of the first gallery, and take the breath away too, dominating the room with colour and texture - with their sheer presence. Then, vision shifting away from these show-stoppers, a quiet little painting in the far corner steals the eye. A painting by Van Gogh. It’s not one I remember seeing before (except perhaps in reproduction); just piles of well-thumbed books, no titles, no hints of provenance: simply books heaped on a table. The wall label tells us they are French novels - novels that Van Gogh, an avid reader (Zola a favourite, for his naturalism and frank perspective on modern life), may or may not have read. I read too that almost all of the 820 surviving letters he wrote to family and friends contained at least one reference to literature.  

The contrast is expressive: the vigour of Kiefer’s artworks – in many examples, this titan of modern art now in his 80^th year pays direct homage to the artist he has revered for practically all his 60-year career - and books, much-loved and revered books paid homage to by the earlier titan, Van Gogh, a pioneer of Post-Impressionism. 

This focused exhibition, developed in collaboration with Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum and set within three of the RA’s smaller galleries, shows a dozen or so images by each artist. With striking visual parallels in each gallery, it invites viewers to compare and contrast the two artists and consider the lasting influence that Van Gogh has had on Kiefer.

In 1890 Vincent van Gogh painted his final works. Seventy-two years later the eighteen-year-old Kiefer received a travel grant to trace the footsteps of his idol, Van Gogh. He started in the Netherlands, travelling on to Belgium, Paris, ending in Arles in the south of France and staying with a family in the neighbouring village of Fourques in Provence.

The clarity of Van Gogh’s landscapes inspired Kiefer and several drawings by him produced during what he called his “initiation journey” are on show; it is not always easy to tell them apart - without the labels, would we know which was Van Gogh and which Kiefer?

Handouts at the exhibition contain unpublished extracts from Kiefer’s journals, which were filled with notes and drawings. The booklet is a nice touch. The passages from Kiefer’s diary give a feeling for the profound influence Van Gogh had on the young artist, whose subjects and techniques also draw upon literature, history, mythology, philosophy and science.

Anselm Kiefer, The Crows (Die Krähen), 2019. Emulsion, oil, acrylic, shellac, gold leaf, straw and clay on canvas, 280 x 760 cm. Courtesy of the artist and White Cube. Photo: Georges Poncet. © Anselm Kiefer

Among the exhibition highlights are some of Kiefer’s celebrated landscapes, including Die Krähen (The Crows), 2019 (Courtesy of the Artist and White Cube) – displayed for comparison near Van Gogh’s Field with Irises near Arles, 1888. Kiefer’s super large-scale works encapsulate his admiration for the compositional devices used by Van Gogh, whether that’s his adoption of the high horizon line, deep perspectives, or panoramic formats. Plus of course, they share a painterly use of colour and love affair with surface texture.

Shared motifs abound, of crows and wheatfields, sheaves from the harvest, solitary walkers or workers, sunflowers and so on. Each work offers opportunities to compare and contrast.

The Van Gogh highlights include the seminal landscapes Snow-Covered Field with a Harrow (after Millet), 1890, and Field of Irises near Arles, both loaned from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. Plus his wonderful 1890 portrait of L'Arlésienne, showing Mme Ginoux, the owner of the Café de la Gare where Van Gogh lived for his first few months in Arles, sitting at a table, her head resting on her hand. The books in front of her, this time with just about decipherable titles, are Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Charles Dickens’s Christmas Stories.

New, previously unexhibited pieces by Kiefer complete the lineup. One is a tall sculpture specially created for the exhibition depicting a sunflower emerging from a large pile of books and shedding golden seeds onto the lead pages. Along with Van Gogh’s painting of piles of French novels mentioned above, it underlines the importance of literature and poetry to both artists.

One more epic Kiefer canvas ends the show. Full of energy and exuding esteem, it is Kiefer’s De Sterrennacht (The Starry Night), 2019 (Courtesy of the Artist and White Cube), his interpretation of Van Gogh’s iconic Starry Night, 1889 (sadly not in the show). Comprising swirling straw wound into catherine wheel-like shapes to stand in for stars, gold leaf and all sorts, I have to say I liked it least of the Kiefer works here. However, as an image to go home with, it compellingly reinforces the point of the show: Kiefer’s deep and enduring admiration of Van Gogh, “his first artistic love”.

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Kiefer/ Van Gogh

The Royal Academy of Arts, London

Showing until: 26 October 2025

For more information see: https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/