Anselm Kiefer

ANSELM KIEFER IN THE LOUVRE
Visitors to the Louvre face a long walk to get to Athanor, the museum’s new commission by German artist Anselm Kiefer. At the end of the Sully Wing in this high-ceilinged former palace, a visitor must climb a flight of stairs, and there it is: Kiefer’s 33-foot-tall, 14-foot-wide painting of a prone, naked figure, lying in actual dirt with the firmament above him dusted with gold and silver particles. Niches in the two flanking walls are filled with powerful, metal sculptures by the artist, whose studio is in the south of France. "Athanor" is an alchemical term referring to a self-feeding furnace that provides a uniform temperature for transformative experiments.

The installation of Athanor was celebrated with "Drawings / Boundary / Drawings," Nov. 1, 2007-Jan. 28, 2008, a special exhibition of 90 works on paper selected by Kiefer, displayed in the Louvre’s drawing galleries in the museum's southwest section -- at the opposite corner of the museum from Athenor, requiring a trek through the entire museum to see both exhibitions in one go. But those who made the trip were amply rewarded. A connoisseur’s delight, the exhibition suggested that Kiefer has the taste, or perhaps the scholarship, of an erudite specialist in Baroque art.

A third component of Kiefer’s work at the Louvre is available primarily to the flâneur. Exiting the Louvre Rivoli Metro station, a passerby on the rue Place du Louvre where it meets rue de Rivoli can look up at the northeast corner of the museum, and through the end window catch a glimpse of Athanor, strangely lit at night. Talk about alchemy. It’s the only painting in the museum you can look at when the place is closed.