If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if a German titan of postmodernism decided to deconstruct Van Gogh and reassemble his works into a new universe, now’s your chance to see it in person. The Royal Academy of Arts in London is opening an exhibition presenting Anselm Kiefer — an honorary member — and Vincent Van Gogh side by side for the first time. Not just in the sense that “both hang in the same museum,” but literally intertwined: they alternate, overlap, and engage in a dialogue. Not as teacher and student, but as two interlocutors meeting eye to eye while speaking different languages.
Anselm Kiefer, a German artist with nearly six decades of experience, openly acknowledges Van Gogh as his first teacher. Born in the final months of World War II and growing up amid postwar devastation, Kiefer was more than inspired by Van Gogh. At 18, he received a grant and traveled along his idol’s path — through the Netherlands, Belgium, Paris, and Arles. He painted like Van Gogh. He thought like Van Gogh. Perhaps he even ate and slept like him. Now, the pinnacle of his obsession is this exhibition, where Kiefer officially earns the right to “converse” with his idol as an equal.
Photo by Alexander Tatiev
The exhibition at the RA highlights both shared motifs and contrasts in temperament. Van Gogh is about line, color, and inner tension. Kiefer is about texture, mass, materiality, sometimes verging on architecture. His massive works are not just to be observed — they engulf you. Viewers confront enormous canvases crafted from oil, ash, straw, steel, and gold leaf. It’s a landscape you want to step into but find slightly intimidating.
Photo by Alexander Tatiev
The curators create a delicate interplay. Kiefer’s paintings hang alongside Van Gogh’s landscapes from the Amsterdam museum’s collection. There are more direct connections too: Kiefer’s giant sunflower growing from a pile of books visually “converses” with Van Gogh’s drawing, “Piles of French Novels.” Literature is key for both artists. Van Gogh’s legacy includes his quotes, letters, and philosophy; Kiefer’s features lead-cast books and gilded sunflower seeds cascading onto pages.
Photo by Alexander Tatiev
Kiefer’s large-scale works particularly impress. His 2019 “Starry Night” (yes, that famous one, but not the same) transforms into a textile cosmos of golden straw. It’s not a straightforward interpretation, but rather an echo, a variation — a personal vision of that iconic night experienced from a different perspective. There are also smaller but no less significant pieces: Kiefer’s early drawings made during his travels tracing Van Gogh’s route are exhibited alongside the originals for the first time. Here, it’s fascinating not so much to spot similarities but to witness the attempt to understand, to feel, to get closer.
Photo by Alexander TatievPhoto by Alexander Tatiev
Not all viewers may find this pairing easy to accept. Van Gogh is a near-mythical figure who needs no framing; Kiefer is an artist of another era, voice, and expression. But that contrast is the exhibition’s point: not comparison, but conjunction. It’s not a contest, but a duet. If Kiefer seems overwhelming at first, by the end it’s clear he simply plays a different tune. Their “dialogue” is less a debate than two distinct answers to the same questions.
Photo by Alexander Tatiev
Once again, the Royal Academy proves its talent for organising exhibitions that not only showcase art but provoke, unsettle, and spark reflection on influence, memory, and resonance. Though separated by a century, Kiefer and Van Gogh’s exhibition reveals how visual language can differ yet remain truthful at its core. There’s no attempt to cast one as a continuation of the other — both speak personally, each in their own voice, and both speak compellingly.
Photo by Alexander Tatiev
Don’t miss it: the exhibition opens June 28 and promises to be one of this summer’s most talked-about art events.
