Executed in graphite in 1965, War and Peace is a large -
scale triptych drawing
depicting two colossal archaic warriors who confront each other in
battle while the world around and beneath them crumbles.
For Kiefer, Khlebnikov's 317 - year cycle is useful in that it allows him to
depict these broken 20th - century vessels in the light of naval engagements, long sea journeys, shipping losses and the
battles of the past - in short, to acknowledge both the human and the historical
scale of past events, and their place in our larger models of the world.