Joseph BeuysGerman, 1921–1986Food for Thought
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Food for Thought” now? Collection: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Washington, D.C., United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
Details
- Accession number
- 2011.147.8
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- National Gallery of Art
- Image: National Gallery of Art — © the artist or rights holder
In the life of Joseph Beuys
The whole life1972–1985
The project “In Defence of Nature” in Bolognano
From 1972 to 1985 Beuys carried out in Bolognano the project “Operation In Defence of Nature”, the Italian project with the greatest international impact: artistic, political, ecological and humanitarian actions, among them the “Paradise Plantation” of 7,000 plants (1982) and “Olivestone” (1984).
1975
A severe heart attack
In 1975 Beuys suffered a severe heart attack.
1976
Takes part in the Venice Biennale
In 1976 Beuys's work was shown at the Venice Biennale.
24 June 1977 – 2 October 1977
Exhibition: Documenta 6
late 1970s
Among the founders of the German Green Party
The Free International University became one of the four organisations that founded the German Green Party at the end of the 1970s; Beuys himself was a founding member and lifelong supporter of the party.
1979
The retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum
In 1979 the only major retrospective of Beuys's work organised in his lifetime opened at the Guggenheim Museum in New York; it has been described as a “lightning rod for American criticism”, provoking powerful and polemical responses.
![Ginevra de' Benci [obverse], Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1474/1478](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/8f29e3c9-a289-4d53-abf0-31a66e9e98fa/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
![Wreath of Laurel, Palm, and Juniper with a Scroll inscribed Virtutem Forma Decorat [reverse], Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1474/1478](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/ff62e8d0-45c4-498f-ad36-6358de827e04/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
