Parts of Anselm Kiefer sculpture stolen from French warehouse
Thieves have stolen parts of a lead sculpture by the German contemporary artist Anselm Kiefer from a warehouse in France, representing a loss of more than $1m (£785,000), a prosecutor said on Friday.
Kiefer, 78, is renowned for his bleak sculptures and installations confronting his country’s Nazi past, which sell for millions.
Several of his works have featured oversized lead books.
‘Our house was bombed the night I was born’: Anselm Kiefer on the nightmares he can’t escape
Read more
The burglars broke into the grounds of the artist’s warehouse in the town of Croissy-Beaubourg, east of Paris, on Thursday before dawn, according to the prosecutor in the nearby town of Meaux, Jean-Baptiste Bladier.
“CCTV footage showed four individuals breaching the car park barrier, entering the premises and cutting through the steel fence surrounding the work, before making off with lead books that were part of it,” he said.
“The artist has estimated damage of more than $1m.”
The theft is the latest targeting Kiefer, with previous burglaries thought to have been aimed at monetising the value of the lead he uses, rather than the art pieces themselves.
The artist lost $1.5m worth of art in a robbery at the same site in 2016, while security guards chased away would-be plunderers in 2019.
Kiefer starred in a 3D documentary by the German director Wim Wenders titled Anselm, which premiered out of competition at the last Cannes film festival.