In this work, the earth takes the form of an artist’s palette. Rooted in the ground, the trees are identified as faith, hope, and love. Kiefer has explained that these virtues "are like the colors on the palette, the materials to paint with. It’s all material for the artist." This notion is reinforced by touches of one primary color on each tree and by the materiality of the surface, which is produced by heavy strokes of brown and ultramarine pastel and by the reflectivity of the pastel fixative.
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Inscription: Inscribed vertically on tree trunks from left to right in India ink: Glaube Hoffnung Liebe
private collection (1976–83; sold in 1983 to d'Offay); [Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London, 1983–95; sold in 1995 to Polsky]; Cynthia Hazen Polsky, New York (1995–2000; her gift to MMA)
ARC/Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. "Anselm Kiefer," May 11–June 21, 1984, no. 114.
Israel Museum, Jerusalem. "Anselm Kiefer," July 31–September 30, 1984, no. 114.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Anselm Kiefer," December 5, 1987–January 31, 1988, unnumbered cat. (colorpl. 29; lent by a private collection).
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Anselm Kiefer," March 6–May 1, 1988, unnumbered cat.
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. "Anselm Kiefer," June 14–September 11, 1988, unnumbered cat.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Anselm Kiefer," October 17, 1988–January 3, 1989, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Anselm Kiefer: Works on Paper, 1969–1993," December 15, 1998–March 21, 1999, no. 26.
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. "Anselm Kiefer: Heaven and Earth," September 25, 2005–January 8, 2006.
Washington, D. C. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution. "Anselm Kiefer: Heaven and Earth," June 18–September 10, 2006.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "Anselm Kiefer: Heaven and Earth," October 5, 2006–January 14, 2007.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art [The Met Breuer]. "Provocations: Anselm Kiefer at The Met Breuer," December 13, 2017–April 8, 2018, no catalogue.
Anne Seymour. Anselm Kiefer: Watercolours 1970–1982. Exh. cat., Anthony d'Offay Gallery. London, 1983, unpaginated, no. 15, ill. (color).
Jürgen Harten inAnselm Kiefer. Exh. cat., Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf. Dusseldorf, 1984, pp. 48, 175, no. 114, fig. 21a.
Mark Rosenthal. Anselm Kiefer. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago and Philadelphia, 1987, p. 66, colorpl. 29.
Nan Rosenthal in "Recent Acquisitions. A Selection: 1994–1995." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 53 (Fall 1995), pp. 68–69, ill. (color).
Nan Rosenthal. Anselm Kiefer: Works on Paper in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1998, pp. 62–64, no. 26, ill. (color).
Daniel Arasse. Anselm Kiefer. 2nd ed. [1st ed., 2010]. London, 2014, pp. 107, 121, 320.
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