Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s Kiefer made numerous works related to Richard Wagner (1813–1883), the composer who celebrated German nationalism and was later glorified by Adolf Hitler. Kiefer has been fascinated by the way art can be appropriated and sometimes misused, and the disdain that history can accord figures such as Wagner. The inspiration for this work is Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), part of the composer’s opera cycle The Ring of the Nibelung, which is based on medieval Icelandic mythological literature (the Edda in Old Norse) and Germanic folklore. The sword referenced in the title is Nothung ("needful"), the weapon thrust into a great ash tree by Wotan, chief of the gods.
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private collection (until 1983; sold in 1983 to d'Offay); [Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London (1983–95; sold to MMA]
Kunstverein Freiburg. "Anselm Kiefer: Aquarelle 1970–1980," September 18–October 18, 1981, unnumbered cat. (as "Ein Schwert verhiess mir der Vater").
Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf. "Anselm Kiefer," March 24–May 5, 1984, no. 102 (as "A sword did my father promise me").
ARC/Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. "Anselm Kiefer," May 11–June 21, 1984, no. 102.
Israel Museum, Jerusalem. "Anselm Kiefer," July 31–September 30, 1984, no. 102.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Anselm Kiefer," December 5, 1987–January 31, 1988, unnumbered cat. (colorpl. 34; as "My Father Promised Me a Sword," 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.
Sezon Museum of Modern Art. "Anselm Kiefer–Melancholia," June 3–July 19, 1993, no. W–11 (as "Ein Schwert verhieß mir der Vater").
National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto. "Anselm Kiefer–Melancholia," August 3–September 5, 1993, no. W–11.
Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art. "Anselm Kiefer–Melancholia," September 18–October 24, 1993, no. W–11.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Anselm Kiefer: Works on Paper, 1969–1993," December 15, 1998–March 21, 1999, no. 18.
New York. Arnold and Marie Schwartz Gallery at the Metropolitan Opera. "From the Met to the Met: Anselm Kiefer and Wagner's Ring," February 17–May 9, 2009, unnum. brochure.
London. Royal Academy of Arts. "Anselm Kiefer," September 27–December 14, 2014, no. 22.
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 "Ein Schwert verhiess mir der Vater" and dates it 1974.
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. 38, 175, no. 102, fig. 16.
Mark Rosenthal. Anselm Kiefer. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago and Philadelphia, 1987, colorpl. 34.
Mark Rosenthal, Akira Moriguchi, Sawako Ogiwara, Etsuko Sugiyama, Junsi Magara, and Takashi Suzuki inAnselm Kiefer: Melancholia. Exh. cat.Tokyo, 1993, p. 123.
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, p. 48, no. 18, ill. p. 49 (color).
Christian Weikop inAnselm Kiefer. Exh. cat., Royal Academy of Arts. London, 2014, pp. 45–46, 225, no. 22, ill. p. 95 (color).
Daniel Arasse. Anselm Kiefer. 2nd ed. [1st ed., 2010]. London, 2014, ill. p. 141 (color).
Doïna Lemny inAnselm Kiefer. Ed. Jean-Michel Bouhours. Exh. cat., Centre Pompidou, Musée national d'art moderne, Galerie I. Paris, 2015, p. 144, ill. (color).
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