'Bathtub for a Heroine', Joseph Beuys

Artwork details

Artist

Joseph Beuys (1921‑1986)

Title

Bathtub for a Heroine

Badewanne für eine Heldin

Date 1950, cast 1984

MediumBronze, steel and plastic

Dimensionsobject: 155 x 410 x 248 mm

Collection

Tate

Acquisition Presented by the artist 1984

Reference

T03920

Not on display

Display caption

The elements shown in this first vitrine were acquired by Tate as individual works. Beuys later decided to place them together to match the groups of objects in the other two vitrines, which he had designed himself. Several of the sculptures incorporate bronze castings of a female torso, originally carved in wood by Beuys. In Bathtub for a Heroine, the figure is combined with an electric element and a copper cast of a mammoth's tooth. In Animal Woman, she seems to merge with a piece of industrial piping; while in Bed, she floats suspended between the jaws of a clamp. Fat Battery consists of various fat and felt elements, combined by Beuys to suggest the shape and function of a battery, reflecting his concern with the generation and storage of energy… (read more)

August 2004