Anselm Kiefer, born in 1945 in Donaueschingen, studied law and Romance languages before turning to painting. A student of Horst Antes and Joseph Beuys, he is known for major works such as Parsifal, Zweistromland, and Mohn und Gedächtnis. In 2015, the Centre Pompidou in Paris dedicated a major retrospective to his work.