Anselm Kiefer’s new exhibition, Sag mir wo die Blumen sind (Tell Me Where the Flowers Are), offers an ambitious and profoundly layered exploration of the artist’s enduring engagement with the trauma, history, and spiritual resonances of both the German past and his ongoing dialogue with Vincent van Gogh. The exhibition’s centerpiece is a colossal painting, measuring over 24 meters long, which the artist is currently completing for the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. This monumental work serves as a poignant reflection on the cycles of life, death, and the passage of time, employing Kiefer’s signature materials—clay, dried flowers, straw, gold leaf, and the ubiquitous lead—to create an immersive, almost otherworldly environment. Drawing inspiration from Pete Seeger’s protest song, which becomes a metaphor for the lost potential of humanity, Kiefer’s installation references Van Gogh’s iconic Sunflowers and his recent landscapes, creating an unsettling yet poetic visual testament to the fragility of existence.

The collaboration between the Van Gogh Museum and the Stedelijk Museum to present Kiefer’s work is a significant moment in the artist’s career, reflecting his deep connection to the Netherlands. This country has been crucial to his international recognition. The Van Gogh Museum’s segment of the exhibition highlights the sustained influence of Van Gogh on Kiefer’s oeuvre, from his early studies of the artist to his more recent works, where the legacy of the Dutch master continues to inform his bold, passionate approach to landscape and color. By juxtaposing works like Van Gogh’s Wheatfield with Crows (1890) with Kiefer’s monumental interpretations of similar themes, the exhibition explores a dialogue between two artists whose work grapples with human suffering, nature’s volatility, and the persistence of artistic vision despite personal or historical adversity.

At the Stedelijk, Kiefer’s connection with the museum is explored in more depth, as the institution has played a pivotal role in the recognition and acceptance of his work, with early acquisitions such as Innenraum (1981) and Märkischer Sand (1982) cementing the artist’s place in the international art world. Stedelijk’s presentation includes iconic works from the 1980s and new spatial installations that underscore Kiefer’s evolving practice. One of the most striking pieces in this section is Steigend, steigend, sinke nieder, a work composed of photographs and lead that brings the weight of human history into stark, physical form. These installations, together with film works such as Noch ist Polen nicht los (1989), filmed shortly before the fall of the Iron Curtain, offer viewers a rare opportunity to experience Kiefer’s immersive, often unsettling exploration of collective memory and its material traces.

The exhibition’s title, Sag mir wo die Blumen sind, not only alludes to the 1955 protest song by Pete Seeger but also encapsulates Kiefer’s broader thematic concerns. In the artist’s work context, the flowers become a potent symbol of life’s transience, echoing the cycle of birth and decay central to Kiefer’s exploration of human fate. Through a sophisticated blend of painting, sculpture, and installation, Kiefer’s practice engages with the human condition on a deeply philosophical level while addressing the material reality of history—its scars, beauty, and relentless weight. With this exhibition, Kiefer invites us to reflect on the persistence of memory, the fragility of life, and how art can both memorialize and transcend the struggles of the past.