Kiefer began exploring the theme of the palette in 1974, explaining that it "represents the idea of the artist connecting heaven and earth. . . . Artists are like shamans, who when they were meditating would sit in a tree in order to suspend themselves between heaven and earth. The palette can transform reality by suggesting new visions. Or you could say that the visionary experience finds its way to the material world through the palette." Here, the palette hovers above the earth and is connected to a heavenly dove, the Christian symbol of the Holy Spirit, by a ray of light inscribed with a German phrase from Catholic mass.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
ARC/Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. "Anselm Kiefer," May 11–June 21, 1984, no. 92.
Israel Museum, Jerusalem. "Anselm Kiefer," July 31–September 30, 1984, no. 92.
Sezon Museum of Modern Art. "Anselm Kiefer–Melancholia," June 3–July 19, 1993, no. W–3 (as "Sende Deinen Geist aus," 1971).
National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto. "Anselm Kiefer–Melancholia," August 3–September 5, 1993, no. W–3.
Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art. "Anselm Kiefer–Melancholia," September 18–October 24, 1993, no. W–3.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Anselm Kiefer: Works on Paper, 1969–1993," December 15, 1998–March 21, 1999, no. 11.
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. "Anselm Kiefer: Heaven and Earth," September 25, 2005–January 8, 2006, unnumbered cat. (p. 66).
Washington, D. C. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution. "Anselm Kiefer: Heaven and Earth," June 18–September 10, 2006, unnumbered cat.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "Anselm Kiefer: Heaven and Earth," October 5, 2006–January 14, 2007, unnumbered cat.
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.
R. H. Fuchs. Anselm Kiefer. Exh. cat., Stedelijk van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven. Eindhoven, 1979, unpaginated, ill. (color), calls it "Sende Deinen Geist aus".
R. H. Fuchs. Anselm Kiefer: Aquarelle 1970–1980. Exh. cat., Kunstverein Freiburg. Freiburg, 1981, unpaginated.
Jürgen Harten inAnselm Kiefer. Exh. cat., Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf. Dusseldorf, 1984, pp. 145, 175, no. 92, fig. 100.
Mark Rosenthal, Akira Moriguchi, Sawako Ogiwara, Etsuko Sugiyama, Junsi Magara, and Takashi Suzuki inAnselm Kiefer: Melancholia. Exh. cat.Tokyo, 1993, p. 90.
Mark Rosenthal. Anselm Kiefer–Melancholia. Exh. cat., Sezon Bijutsukan. Tokyo, 1993, pp. 117, 225, no. W–3, ill. p. 90 (color).
Nan Rosenthal in "Recent Acquisitions. A Selection: 1994–1995." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 53 (Fall 1995), p. 68.
Nan Rosenthal. Anselm Kiefer: Works on Paper in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1998, pp.36, 108, no. 11, ill. p. 37 (color).
Michael Auping. Anselm Kiefer: Heaven and Earth. Exh. cat., Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Fort Worth, 2005, ill. p. 66 (color).
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's engagement with art from 1890 to today includes the acquisition and exhibition of works in a range of media, spanning movements in modernism to contemporary practices from across the globe.
