Anselm Kiefer - The Women

The French Academy in Rome will open a major exhibition dedicated to Anselm Kiefer and his work. The exhibition offers a perspective on the artist’s oeuvre, focusing in particular on a specific theme: the most iconic female figures from classical and Germanic history and mythology. The exhibition will unfold along a route that, from the Grandes Galeries to the Balthus Studio, located in the gardens of the Villa Medici, will trace the contours of this journey through the great female icons of the past, from the Queens of France to Greek poetesses, to the Vestal Virgins, deities, and mythological figures, from Madame de Staël to Bérénice, from Sappho to Daphne. A wide range of works—most of which have never been exhibited before and were created on-site exclusively for the exhibition at the Académie de France—including drawings, paintings, books, sculptures, and installations, will recount history through women’s voices. The exhibition will be accompanied by an art book published by Edizioni dell’Elefante in collaboration with the French Academy in Rome. This book will include an introduction by Richard Peduzzi, Director of the French Academy in Rome, texts by Henri Loyrette, Pierre Morel, and Giacomo Marramao, a historical essay by Philippe Dagen, and will be illustrated with photographs by Claudio Abate. The purpose of this art book is to serve as a tangible record of the artist’s time in Rome and, in particular, at the French Academy.