“Black milk of morning we drink you evenings / we drink you at noon and mornings we drink you at night / we drink and we drink …” So begins Paul Celan’s poem Todesfuge (Death Fugue), written in 1945 and published in 1948. Celan was a German-speaking Romanian Jew who survived the Holocaust and addressed it in his poetry. The German artist Anselm Kiefer was born in 1945, the year Todesfuge was written, and Celan’s poetry is at the heart of his work, which explores humanity’s “black milk.” At the Grand Palais Éphémère, sculptures, installations, and 19 large-scale canvases by Kiefer continue his intimate dialogue with Celan, his soulmate. —L.J.

Anselm Kiefer: Pour Paul Celan
Grand Palais Éphémère
Av. Pierre Loti, 75007 Paris, France
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