Untitled

May – 5 August 1945

British captivity and the return to Kleve

The day after Germany's unconditional surrender Beuys was taken prisoner in Cuxhaven and sent to a British internment camp; on 5 August he was released and returned to his parents, who had moved to a suburb of Kleve.

after August 1945

Meeting Walter Brüx and Hanns Lamers

After returning to Kleve, Beuys met the local sculptor Walter Brüx and the painter Hanns Lamers; they encouraged him to take up art as a full-time career, and he joined the Kleve Artists Association that they had founded.

1945–1960

First exhibitions: Kleve, Kranenburg, Wuppertal

In his early years Beuys showed watercolours and sketches at the Kleve Artists Association's annual exhibition in the Villa Koekkoek, had a solo show at the home of Hans and Franz Joseph van der Grinten in Kranenburg, and took part in a show at the Von der Heydt Museum in Wuppertal.

1 April 1946

Enrols at the Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Arts

Beuys enrolled in the monumental sculpture programme; at first he was assigned to the class of Joseph Enseling, who had a more traditional, representational focus.

1947

Moves into Ewald Mataré's class

After three semesters Beuys managed to change his mentor and in 1947 joined the small class of Ewald Mataré, who had returned to the academy after being banned by the Nazis; the anthroposophy of Rudolf Steiner became an increasingly important basis for his thinking.

1947–1950

The “Thursday Society” at Alfter Castle

Together with other artists, including Hann Trier, Beuys founded the “Thursday Society” (Donnerstag-Gesellschaft), which from 1947 to 1950 organised discussions, exhibitions, events and concerts at Alfter Castle.