Buch mit Flügeln (Book with Wings), 1992-94Lead, steel, and tin
Collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Museum purchase, Sid W. Richardson Foundation Endowment Fund. © Anselm Kiefer
Every year since 1950 the German Book Trade Peace Prize is awarded at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
The €25,000 award is given by the the German book publishers’ and book-sellers’ association, The Boersenverein.
The award this year goes to Anselm Kiefer and it is the first time an artist has won.
Those familiar with Kiefer’s work know that the book plays an important role in his work. The jury acknowledged this relationship when giving Kiefer the award saying “the book and its form were the primary conveyor of expression for Kiefer.”
Peace is “an unachievable utopia” says Kiefer. “There is no such thing as final peace…peace is a utopia, something that can never be achieved. It has to be created every day anew in our heads. It is a struggle.”
Previously on Book Patrol
The Book , Anselm Kiefer and the Universe
Anselm Kiefer and the Book
Searching for a German Identity: Anselm Kiefer’s Homage to Paul Celan
Anselm Kiefer Moves into the Louvre