Zim Zum

1990

Anselm Kiefer

Artist, German, born 1945

Horizontal bands of rumpled and wrinkled strips of lead are pieced together and overlap to create this horizontal, abstract work. The bands vary from smoke to charcoal gray, and there are some areas of burnt-orange rust. A smaller, ivory-white rectangle at the bottom center resembles a starburst created with textured, radiating bands of ivory and navy blue, surrounding a roughly teardrop-shaped hole that nearly spans the height of the smaller panel. The area within the teardrop is painted with smooth strokes of ice blue along the top, deepening to cobalt blue along the bottom. Tall letters in cursive white spelling out “Zim Zum” are written at the center of a band a quarter of the way down from the top edge of the composition.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    acrylic, emulsion, crayon, shellac, ashes, and canvas on lead

  • Credit Line

    Gift of the Collectors Committee

  • Dimensions

    overall: 380.3 x 560.1 cm (149 3/4 x 220 1/2 in.)

  • Accession

    1990.82.1


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Marian Goodman Gallery, New York); purchased by the NGA Collectors Committee; gift 1990 to NGA.

Associated Names

Bibliography

2004

  • Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 462-463, no. 390, color repro.

Inscriptions

across top: Zim-Zum

Wikidata ID

Q20198008


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