JOSEPH BEUYS German, 1921-1986

Joseph Beuys (1921–1986) is regarded as one of the defining artistic figures of the twentieth century and as one of the most influential proponents of the expanded concept of art. From the 1960s onwards, he developed a multifaceted oeuvre encompassing sculpture, drawing, installation, action, and performance. Central to his artistic practice was the idea of art as a transformative social force, deliberately dissolving the boundaries between art and life. In addition to his sculptural works, Beuys' oeuvre includes multiples, prints, and large-scale installations. His works combine symbolically charged materials such as felt, fat, and copper with a poetic and socio-political visual language that explores questions of memory, transformation, and collective responsibility. Works by Joseph Beuys are held in major international museum and private collections, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, the Centre Pompidou, Paris, Tate, London, and the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin. Through his work, Beuys made a decisive contribution to the expansion of the concept of art and profoundly influenced the course of contemporary international art.