Brünnhilde/Grane

Anselm Kiefer German

Not on view

Woodcut is a traditional medium in German art, important for incunabula, Old Master images, and modern artist groups like Die Brücke (The Bridge).Kiefer began to experiment with woodblock printing in the early 1970s and returned to it in earnest in 1977–78, focusing on subjects related to German history and myth. For all the Germanic tradition evoked in his turn to the woodcut, Kiefer’s practice was nontraditional in his choice of a large format and visibly seamed composition. One of the artist’s favorite themes at this time was Grane, the sacred steed ridden by Brünnhilde when she sacrificed herself on Siegfried’s funeral pyre at the close of Wagner’s opera Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods).

Brünnhilde/Grane, Anselm Kiefer (German, born Donaueschingen, 1945), Woodcuts and acrylic on cut and pasted papers, mounted on canvas

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.