Wagner-inspired Works by Artist Anselm Kiefer Opens at Gallery Met on February 17

Solo Exhibition Coincides with the Return of Otto Schenk’s Acclaimed Production of the Ring Cycle on March 25

In the first collaboration between the Metropolitan Opera and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wagner-inspired works by contemporary artist Anselm Kiefer will be shown at Gallery Met beginning February 17. The exhibition titled From the Met to the Met: Anselm Kiefer and Wagner’s “Ring” coincides with the revival of Otto Schenk’s acclaimed production which begins its final run at the opera house on March 25. From the Met to the Met will be on display through May 9, the last day of the Ring, and the last performance of the season.

Nine of the dozen works displayed during the exhibition are on loan from The Metropolitan Museum including “Brünnhilde’s Death,” an ink, watercolor, and acrylic on joined paper; “My Father Pledged Me a Sword,” a watercolor, gouache, and ballpoint pen on paper; and “Siegfried’s Difficult Way to Brünnhilde,” an acrylic and gouache on photograph. Three works are on loan from private collectors.

The Metropolitan Museum also plans to hang several of their other Kiefer holdings at the same time as the Gallery Met exhibition. “We are delighted to cooperate with our sister institution across the park,” says Gary Tinterow, chairman of the department of modern art at The Metropolitan Museum. “I hope that this is only the first of many collaborative endeavors.”

Gallery Met director Dodie Kazanjian, who organized the exhibition, says that “the theme of redemption is crucial to both Kiefer and Wagner”, adding that Kiefer’s works are not meant to illustrate the opera, but rather “to indicate and confront the same themes, characters, and motives that Wagner adapted in the Ring cycle.”

Anselm Kiefer, born in Germany in 1945, is internationally known for his work in painting, sculpture, and large scale installations. In 2005, the Modern Art Museum of Ft. Worth, Texas, mounted a major exhibition which traveled to the Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington D.C., and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. In 2007, Anselm Kiefer created large scaled solo exhibitions in the Grand Palais in Paris and at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. His set design for Richard Strauss’ Elektra, created for the San Carlo Opera in Naples, has been seen throughout Europe. The artist lives and works in France.