The artwork, titled “The Orders of the Night,” was created by Anselm Kiefer in 1996 and belongs to the New European Painting movement. It is a figurative work that embodies the evocative and often profound themes characteristic of Kiefer’s oeuvre.
In the artwork, an overarching sense of somberness and decay permeates the composition. The scene is dominated by towering, spectral figures of sunflowers, depicted in various stages of withering, against a muted and desolate background. The flowers’ heavy heads bowing and their elongated, desiccated stems create an atmosphere of silent reflection. Lying motionless on the ground is a dark, human-like figure, imparting a sense of both finality and solitude. The painting’s textured surface and the layered application of materials lend it a tactile quality, inviting viewers to ponder the passage of time, the cycles of life and death, and the enduring weight of history embedded in natural motifs. The dark, muted palette underscores the work’s contemplative and melancholic undertones.
