Eurasia Siberian Symphony 1963

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”).

1964

An action in Aachen: a punch in the face

At a festival at the Technical College in Aachen that coincided with the twentieth anniversary of the attempt on Hitler's life, students interrupted Beuys's action and one of them punched him in the face; a photograph of the artist with a bloodied nose and a raised arm circulated in the media and brought him wider public attention.

28 juni 1964 – 6 oktober 1964

Exhibition: Documenta III

26 November 1965

First solo exhibition in a private gallery

The show opened with an action involving a dead hare: Beuys, his face covered in honey and gold leaf, murmured explanations of the drawings on the walls to the animal while viewers watched through the gallery window; some critics called the photograph with the hare a new Mona Lisa of the 20th century.

1967

Founds a party made up of students

In June 1967, during a student demonstration in West Berlin, a participant died after a clash with the police; in response Beuys created a political party made up solely of students, demanding student self-government and free admission to university for anyone who wished.

27 juni 1968 – 6 oktober 1968

Exhibition: 4. documenta