Anselm Kiefer’s Schwarze Flocken, 2007, which is over 36 feet high and 23 feet wide, considered too large to exhibit for nearly two decades, has finally found a home. Last week, it was shown to the public for the first time in a freestanding concrete pavilion built specifically to house the work in Germany.
Schwarze Flocken, which translates in English to Black Flakes, lives in Künzelsau, Germany, in a pavilion designed by David Chipperfield Architects located in the sculpture garden of Museum Würth 2. It sits on the southwestern edge of the institution’s Carmen Würth Forum, also designed by David Chipperfield Architects.
Schwarze Flocken is Kiefer’s largest work in the Würth Collection. The canvas incorporates oil, emulsion, shellac, earth, and twigs, giving the work a heavily textured surface. The painting is named after a Paul Celan poem about the losses and devastation of the Holocaust.
The new pavilion is over 1500 square feet. Kiefer worked directly with the architects to establish the proportions of the exhibition room, including where the openings are in the space and the color of the walls. The painting is in the center of the room. There is a skylight in the ceiling, allowing changes in weather and light to become part of the viewing experience. There are no other works in the room. Everything from the gallery’s dimensions to the texture of the walls were created in alignment with Kiefer’s vision.