Anselm Kiefer – war painters and poets – Bak, Nash, Sassoon, T.E. Lawrence

Anselm Kiefer, the German painter, on exhibition in Oxford and 80 in a few weeks, has used his art to explore the infiltration of his country’s culture and psychology by Nazism and the far right. Born in 1945 he was one of the first generation of German artists to confront the country’s recent past head-on and to explore how art could keep history alive so that it would not be forgotten, or repeated.

  He was born 8 March 1945 in Donaueschingen in the Black Forest, in a hospital cellar as his home was being bombed and destroyed, and he grew up in the house next door to the ruins. An expansive Sun Pisces opposition Jupiter; he has his Mars in Aquarius opposition Pluto, trine/sextile Uranus – which would attract him to the darkness and danger of the past. His Chiron is conjunct Neptune which can produce compassion as well as a vibrant inner fantasy life.

 What intrigued me is that his Mars falls in the Germany creative 5^th house and exactly square the Germany 8^th house Pluto which points to a shadow and need for power at all costs in Germany’s deeper unconscious.  Kiefer’s Neptune Chiron falls on the Germany Libra Ascendant and Mars, and square the Germany Saturn, IC and Capricorn Sun. So he is intimately linked to his country’s identity and psychology. 

Another creative figure regarded as one of the most important in German-language literature of the post-World War II era was Paul Celan, 23 November 1920, a Romanian-born French poet and Holocaust survivor.

“He speaks truly who speaks the shade.“

A Sun Sagittarius square Uranus, he had his Mercury in Scorpio opposition the Germany 8^th house Pluto and his Neptune is square. His Pluto fell on the Germany Midheaven and his Mars in Capricorn opposed the Germany 10^th house Uranus.  His Chiron was closely conjunct the Germany Descendant.

   It got me thinking about other war artists and writers.

Samuel Bak, 12 August 1933, is a Jewish Lithuanian-American painter and writer, a Holocaust survivor who emigrated to Israel and then settled in the US. His work deals with the artistic expression of the destruction and dehumanization which make up his childhood memories. He has a Leo Sun which sits in Israel’s 10^th house close to its Saturn and Mars. The horror and danger of his childhood experiences reflected into his destructive Mars in Libra opposition Uranus square Pluto sits firmly on the Israel Ascendant, Descendant and Midheaven making him a key figure for Israel.

 The painter Paul Nash whose iconic Menin Road  became a symbol for the destructiveness of World War One, also had his Pluto and Chiron on the UK’s Midheaven and his Jupiter conjunct the UK’s IC.

  Siegfried Sassoon, 8 September 1886, was one of the leading war poets of WW1:

“You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye

Who cheer when soldier lads march by,

Sneak home and pray you’ll never know

The hell where youth and laughter go.” 

 A Virgo Sun, he had his Mars in Scorpio opposition the UK’s 8^th house Mars, with his Saturn in the UK 10^th exactly conjunct the Moon; with his Uranus Jupiter sitting on the UK Ascendant square the MC/IC axis.

 T.E. Lawrence, 16 August 1888, author of The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, known for his role during the Arab Revolt and Sinai and Palestine campaign against the Ottoman Empire in the World War 1, like Sassoon never left his war experiences behind him.

   Also like Sassoon he had Mars in Scorpio opposition the UK’s 11^th house Mars. He was a Sun Saturn in Leo with his Uranus falling in the UK 1^st house conjunct the UK South Node exactly square the UK Sun and Moon. He was betrayed by the British and French top diplomats who ignored promises to the Arabs who had helped him defeat the Turks – which is maybe where the South Node comes in with perfidious Albion with garlic overtones doing their worst.

Not sure what all this adds up to except certain individuals have, for good or for ill, a destiny more closely intertwined with their country than most.