Anselm Kiefer's Venice Cycle at Palazzo Ducale for 1600th Anniversary

Anselm Kiefer will close the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia's celebrations for Venice's 1600th anniversary with a major exhibition at Palazzo Ducale, running from March 26 to October 29, 2022, ahead of the 59th Venice Biennale. The German artist, born in 1945, created a cycle of paintings between 2020 and 2021 specifically for the venue, where they will dialogue with the monumental canvases of the Sala dello Scrutinio, executed between the late 16th and early 17th centuries, and the broader decorative cycle featuring works by Bellini, Titian, and Veronese. Curated by Gabriella Belli and Janne Sirén, the show reflects on Venice's historical role and the contribution of contemporary art to universal themes, as part of MUVE Contemporaneo, the biennial program of the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia now in its fifth edition. A key element is a quote by Venetian philosopher Andrea Emo Capodilista (1901–1983) chosen by Kiefer: "Questi scritti, quando verranno bruciati, daranno finalmente un po' di luce" (These writings, when burned, will finally give a little light). Emo, a solitary thinker who broke with Giovanni Gentile and academia, developed a nihilistic and memorialist philosophy that resonates with Kiefer. His fragmented, diary-like writings—nearly 40,000 pages—were first published posthumously in 1989 as "Il dio negativo" (The Negative God), edited by Massimo Cacciari. Kiefer previously dedicated a 2018 exhibition to Emo at Thaddaeus Ropac.