Joseph BeuysGerman, 1921–1986Untitled
May one see it?
Not receiving at present
The Museum of Modern Art
New York, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- Source
- The museum
Particulars
- Accession number
- 318.1998
In the catalog
Sources
- The Museum of Modern Art
- Image: The Museum of Modern Art — © the artist or rights holder
Meanwhile, in the life of Joseph Beuys
The whole life1945–1960
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.
1955–1957
Severe depression and recovery with the van der Grintens
Artistic self-doubt and poverty led Beuys to a physical and psychological crisis and a period of serious depression; he recovered in Kranenburg, at the house of his most important early patrons, the van der Grinten brothers. The episode has since been called his “shamanistic initiation”.
1958
A design for the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial
In 1958 Beuys took part in the international competition for the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial; his proposal did not win and was never realised.
1959
Marries Eva Wurmbach
In 1959 Beuys married Eva Wurmbach; the couple had two children.
1960s
Forms the idea of “social sculpture”
Drawing on Novalis and Schiller and on Rudolf Steiner's ideas of social threefolding, Beuys developed the concept of social sculpture: society as a whole is one great work of art to which everyone can contribute creatively (“everyone is an artist”).
