Visual Arts Comparative Study

James Hauglie

Introduction
This comparative study will be an examination of pieces created by a
local Milwaukee, Wisconsin artist, C Matthew Luther, and widely
known artist Anselm Kiefer.
Both C Matthew Luther and Anselm Kiefer focus on depicting how
they see their environment and the world around them and through
the use of painting and other mediums on canvas.
The focus of is to analyze the cultural context in the works produced
by these artists.

C Matthew
Luthers works

Varus (1979)
by Anselm Kiefer

Margarete
(1981) by
Anselm Kiefer

C Matthew Luther

Painter, Printmaker and video artist.

Work explores the connection between humans
and their environment.
Produces works that represent his environment.
These pieces represent uncontrolled abandoned
place around the city that are contaminated with
hazardous waste. Visited several of these sites to
document what they were like first hand so he
could produce his works.
Suffers from Crohn's disease: personal
connection to his environment and how it
affects his health.

Anselm Kiefer

German painter.
Common theme of German history in his
works.
Work addresses controversial issues from
recent history and often refers back to the
Holocaust and Nazi rule.
Heavily impacted by his environment and his
cultures past.

C Matthew Luthers works

Luthers works are meant to represent havoc around him,

which connects back to his representation of the environment
and the pollutants within it.

IMPRESSIONS

Drawn to these works because of the abstractness of the pieces; it

catches my eye instantly.
Fairly common color scheme in each piece of his artwork. The
touches of red he uses really stands out to me.

Varus (1979)

As usual this piece by Anselm Kiefer

is heavily influenced by the history of
is culture. Varus is a depiction of the
forest after battle had taken place in
Germany between the Romans and
Germans.
Incorporated in the painting are
names of those who were involved in
the war, all of whom played a part in
developing German National
identity.

Varus (1979) by Anselm Kiefer

Margarete (1981)

One of Kiefers best known pieces of art.

Focused on using written components and
literary tropes to draw upon the tragedy of the
Holocaust. Refers to the Holocaust, Nazis, and
Nazi concentration camps in the process of
producing this work, therefore heavily
incorporating the history of his culture to
influence his art.

Margarete (1981) by Anselm

Kiefer

Function and Purpose:

C Matthew Luther

Luthers work is meant to exemplify the pollutants that wreck havoc upon the
environment. He finds a sense of a mission when going to these places to gain his
inspiration.
Feels he has some sense of responsibility to document such tragedies.
Personal connection: Luther suffers from Crohns disease and it can be caused by
bad environmental factors.

Function and Purpose:

Anselm Kiefer
Feels a very deep connection with his culture and his culture's history.
Kiefers work develops themes pertaining to German history, including the
Holocaust and the Nazis, as well as other controversies in Germanys history.
Kiefers work is essentially meant to draw upon Germanys dark past on a
confrontational scale.

C Matthew Luthers
works

Varus (1979) by
Anselm Kiefer
Paintings.
Reference their
environment for work
inspiration.

Uses personal
connection from his
own life
Uses current issues as
inspiration

References past
events and cultural
history as
inspiration for work.

Connection to own work

C Matthew Luther

Similarly to Luther I tie in my own personal conflicts and concerns when developing my
ideas for the work I produce.
Luther connects this piece to his city, which is in correlation with my Me Myself and
Eye piece which is a representation of my views on the city and my own artwork.

Connection to own work

Varus (1979)

In the piece Varus, Kiefer displays his use of a wide range of techniques. You can see that
he uses more of a thick unblended brushing technique rather than blending.
The function and purpose: although the piece displays a sense of simplicity it has a
larger deeper meaning behind it, relating to his culture's history. In some of my own
works, they contain a simple form however hold a much larger and impacting meaning
behind it.

Connection to own work

Margarete (1981)

Formal Qualities: Margarete contains use of not only paint but also using straw. This
exhibits his ability to use several material when creating his work.
I can connect this to my Mandala, Microcosm piece because that piece of work exhibits
my ability to produce a piece using multiple different mediums. Although my piece isn't
the same exact medium as Kiefers piece it still exhibits the use of multiple different
materials to produce a work of art.
My piece is also on par with Kiefers in a sense that it is a small work of art holding a
meaning that is on a much bigger scale.

Connection to Artists
I have similar qualities in my ark that is also exhibited in the works of Luther and
Kiefer. Although Luther produces more abstract work, whereas I'm very precise and
realistic in my work, we have a strong connection to our origins and how the
environment affects us, the artist, and our artwork we produce. Kiefers intentions are
to create paintings of landscapes that exhibit events that have happened in his culture's
history. I connect with Kiefer on a scale of producing artworks using a lot of different
materials rather than maintaining one medium throughout all of my works.

http://www.theartstory.org/artist-kiefer-anselm-artworks.htm#pnt_3

http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/arts/art-city-asks-c-matthew-lutherb99467746z1-297405421.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anselm_Kiefer