'Coyote II', Joseph Beuys

Artwork details

Artist

Joseph Beuys (1921‑1986)

Title

Coyote II

Date 1980

MediumPhotograph, black and white, on canvas with oil paint

Dimensionssupport: 455 x 703 mm frame: 662 x 909 x 85 mm

Collection

Tate / National Galleries of Scotland

Acquisition ARTIST ROOMS Acquired jointly with the National Galleries of Scotland through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund 2008

Reference

AR00694

Not on display

Online caption

This is one of a pair of images showing Beuys's 1974 'action' 'I Like America and America Likes Me'. The 'action' began as soon as the artist landed in America. He was wrapped in felt at the airport, and driven in an ambulance to René Block's Manhattan gallery. He spent three days in the gallery space with a coyote before being driven straight back to the airport and flown home. The coyote is sacred to Native Americans, and represented an aspect of the country's past that Beuys liked. This image shows items the artist used in the 'action'. The felt blanket and torch represent survival, he used the triangle to make music and lent on the shepherd's crook.