Anselm Kiefer opens Fallen Angels at Palazzo Strozzi
Published on 08/29/2026 at 16:53 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Anselm Kiefer opens Fallen Angels at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence on August 29, 2026. As the museum says, the exhibition brings together new and historical works in dialogue with the Renaissance architecture Palazzo Strozzi.
The Florence opening
The show uses the idea of the fallen angel as its frame. Palazzo Strozzi says the exhibition spans painting, sculpture, installation and photography, with references that move from ancient history to the Second World War.
The first room already makes the scale clear. The courtyard work Engelssturz, created for the venue, sets the tone for a project built around material density and historical pressure.
What the new show adds
Kiefer has long worked with lead, plaster, gold leaf, metal and plant matter. Here, the exhibition text highlights seeds, plants, plaster, metal and gold leaf as part of the artist's tactile vocabulary.
That material language matters because it links the Florence show to the broader logic of his practice. Kiefer does not treat painting as a flat surface; he builds images as layered objects that carry text, residue and memory.
More news and background on Anselm Kiefer
Find more coverage, exhibition notes and related reports on the artist in one place.
How the work is built
Kiefer, born in 1945, works across painting, sculpture, installation and photography. His art often returns to myth, philosophy, alchemy and German history, with the studio as a place of accumulation rather than polish.
That approach is visible in works such as Der Rhein, Verstrahlte Bilder and Hortus Philosophorum, which show how often he turns landscapes, texts and symbolic systems into dense material fields.
Where Kiefer stands now
Anselm Kiefer currently has another major exhibition on view at Palazzo Reale in Milan through September 27, 2026, while the Florence presentation adds a second large institutional frame to the summer calendar.
Key facts on Anselm Kiefer
- Artist: Anselm Kiefer
- Medium / Genre: Painting, sculpture, installation, photography
- Born: 1945, Donaueschingen, Germany
- Place(s) of practice: Croissy, near Paris
- Active since: 1970s
- Key work groups: Heroische Sinnbilder, Der Rhein, Verstrahlte Bilder, Hortus Philosophorum
- Current/last exhibition: Fallen Angels, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, August 29, 2026
- Major collections: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Tate, London
- Awards: German National Prize, 2018
- Next date: currently no announced date in the 30-day window
Frequently asked questions about Anselm Kiefer
Where is Anselm Kiefer on view now?
He is on view in Florence at Palazzo Strozzi with Fallen Angels, which opens on August 29, 2026. He also has a major exhibition at Palazzo Reale in Milan through September 27, 2026.
What defines Anselm Kiefer's work?
His practice combines painting with sculpture, installation and photography. Materials such as lead, gold leaf, plaster, seeds and metal give the work its physical weight.
Which collections hold Anselm Kiefer works?
Public collections include The Metropolitan Museum of Art, SFMOMA and Tate. Those holdings reflect his long institutional reach in Europe and the United States.
This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.
