Joseph Beuys
Joseph Beuys was a German artist and educator born on May 12, 1921, whose work emerged as a significant influence in post-World War II art, challenging traditional notions of art by incorporating everyday objects and experiences. His artistic journey began at the Düsseldorf Arts Academy, where he later became a professor. Beuys is known for his innovative performances and installations, notably the 1965 piece "How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare," which encapsulated his unique approach to art through symbolic gestures and unconventional materials like fat and felt. His experiences during the war, including a dramatic incident where he was rescued by locals after being shot down, profoundly impacted his artistic themes centered on healing and transformation.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Beuys became involved in political activism and was a key figure in the Fluxus movement, emphasizing art as a means of social and political commentary. His performances often blurred the lines between artist and audience, inviting broader participation in the artistic process. He believed in the democratization of art, asserting that everyone has the potential to be an artist. Beuys passed away on January 23, 1986, leaving a legacy that continues to inspire discussions about the role of art in society and its capacity for change.
Joseph Beuys
Artist, sculptor, performance artist
- Born: May 12, 1921
- Place of Birth: Place of birth: Krefeld, Germany
- Died: January 23, 1986
- Place of Death: Place of death: Düsseldorf, Germany
Education: Düsseldorf Arts Academy
Significance: The work of Joseph Beuys was part of a growing movement in the art world after World War II that emphasized everyday objects and events as art. In using these things as symbols, Beuys offered political and social commentary on the world around him.
Background
Joseph Beuys was born on May 12, 1921, as the only child of Josef Jakob Beuys and Johanna Maria Margarete Hulsermann Beuys. While he was still an infant, Beuys' parents moved from Krefeld, where he was born, to Kleve. He received his early education there and showed an aptitude for art and music, but he also excelled at several academic subjects as well, including history and science. During his school days, Beuys often visited the studio of Achilles Moortgat where he was initially exposed to modern art.
The factor with the greatest impact on his childhood, however, would be the buildup to World War II. When he was seventeen, he was compelled, like most other young Germans, to join the Hitler Youth. Beuys originally intended to be a doctor and entered college to study medicine, but the war intervened. Beuys enlisted in the military in 1941 and served as an army fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe.
His plane was shot down during a mission over Russia in 1943 (some accounts say 1944), and Beuys was badly injured. According to Beuys's own version of the event, he was taken in by residents in the remote southern area of Russia where he landed. Beuys said that these Tatars coated him in fat and wrapped him in felt to raise his body temperature as part of their efforts to nurse him back to health. While this story was never independently verified and there are reports that contradict its truth, the use of fat and felt as agents of healing would be recurring themes in Beuys's art.
After the war, Beuys enrolled at the Düsseldorf Arts Academy in 1946 and studied under Ewald Mataré, a German painter and sculptor whose work featured stylized depictions of figures, and Joseph Enseling, a German sculptor. Beuys graduated in 1953 and eventually became a professor at the school.
Life's Work
During the 1950s, Beuys focused mostly on drawings of women, animals, and landscapes done in pencil, ink, or oils. While he had a showing of his work in 1953 and had several patrons, Beuys struggled during the decade financially. He also struggled with his memories of the war, and this affected his art during this time. One of his most prominent works of this period is Woman/Animal Skull (1956–1957).
In addition to becoming a professor at the Düsseldorf Arts Academy in 1961, Beuys's career took several other turns in this decade. He upset the authorities at the school when he eliminated nearly all entry requirements for joining his class. He also began working with several other artists, including Nam June Paik, George Maciunas, and Robert Morris, and formed with them what was known as the Fluxus group. In public events they called "concerts," the group combined literature, performance, visual art, and items from everyday life in new and experimental ways.
Beuys would hold similar events on his own, exhibiting sculptures, drawings, and rooms set up in specific ways to make an artistic statement. His first such exhibit was entitled How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare. It opened in Dresden on November 26, 1965, and although it was his first performance piece, critics have considered it his finest and his signature piece. In it, he sat in a representation of a store window while wearing felt and holding a dead rabbit, while at the same time gesturing rhythmically as if explaining something of vital importance to the small dead hare.
Other non-traditional art installations completed by Beuys involved the use of fat—literally. The fat would be arranged in a way to resemble an object and simply left there. In one case, it is reported that the cleaning staff thought the decaying mass was an accidental mess and cleaned it up. Two of these works were entitled Fat Corners (1960) and Fat Chair (1964).
While he continued to do drawings and other types of sculptural art with more permanent materials, Beuys continued to experiment with performance art as well. In 1974, he traveled to New York City for an exhibit entitled I Like America and America Likes Me at the René Block Gallery. For three days, Beuys spent time in a small room interacting with a coyote and several other objects he chose and placed in the room. He wrapped himself in felt blankets and reclined on a bed of straw. When the coyote rested, so did he, and when it walked around the room, he did likewise. As part of the performance, he insisted on being transported by ambulance and stretcher to and from the airport. In this way, he set foot in the United States only on the floor of the exhibit space.
Beuys was also active in politics, forming several groups during the 1960s and 1970s, and he ran for election to the German Bundestag, or parliament, in 1976.
Beuys died of heart disease on January 23, 1986.
Impact
Beuys' work and life were instrumental in helping art to become a factor in making statements aimed at changing political and social situations in the world. Through his insistence on allowing everyone who wished to be an artist to become one in his classes, and his use of everyday objects as forms of art, he also helped make the art world more inclusive and broadened its impact from beautifying life to potentially making real changes.
Personal Life
Beuys married Eva-Maria Wurmbach in 1959. They had two children, Wenzel and Jessica.
Bibliography
An Artist, a Coyote, and a Cage: Joseph Beuys in New York 1974. Stephen Aiken, photographer. Letter16 P, 2024.
Jones, Jonathan. "Joseph Beuys: Wounds of History." Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 28 Jan. 2005. Web. 26 May 2016.
"Joseph Beuys." The Art Story. The Art Story Foundation. Web. 26 May 2016.
"Joseph Beuys." Gagosian Gallery. Gagosian Gallery. Web. 26 May 2016.
"Joseph Beuys." Guggenheim. Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Web. 26 May 2016.
"Joseph Beuys, 7000 Eichen (7000 Oaks)." Dia Art Foundation. Dia Art Foundation. Web. 26 May 2016.
Rothfuss, Joan. "Joseph Beuys: A Brief Biography." Walker. Walker Art Center. Web. 26 May 2016.
Russell, John. "Joseph Beuys, Sculptor, Is Dead at 64." New York Times. New York Times Company, 25 Jan. 1986. Web. 26 May 2016.