Lot's Wife

1989
This artwork is known to be under copyright.

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The subject of railroad tracks was inspired by the artist’s photograph of the Bordeaux rail facility.

Description

Born in the final year of World War II, Anselm Kiefer addresses the history and legacy of the Third Reich in his native Germany. "We see railway tracks anywhere and think about Auschwitz," the artist said soon after painting Lot's Wife. "It will remain that way in the long run." The drama of the railway tracks dissecting a barren landscape is heightened by the work's surface, dense with gesture and a range of materials, including salt. Referring to the fate of Lot's wife in the Book of Genesis—who was turned to a pillar of salt when she looked back at the destruction of Sodom—Kiefer frames a historical narrative within a biblical one.
Lot's Wife

Lot's Wife

1989

Anselm Kiefer

(German, 1945-)
Germany, 20th century

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Anselm Kiefer and German History

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