Joseph Beuys

Untitled (Frauendarstellung)

1958

Not on display

Artist: Joseph Beuys 1921–1986
Medium: Oil paint and gouache on paper
Dimensions: Support: 428 x 301 mm
frame: 674 x 541 x 28 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: AR00106

Online caption

The translation of the bracketed part of the title of this work tells us that it is a 'Representation of a Woman'. The woman is shown as a totemic figure, drawn with broad, confident brushstrokes, her curves contrasting with the geometric shapes of the background. Superimposed on the torso of the figure is a vessel shape. The equation of woman with vessel is found in many of Beuys's works of the 1950s, and is a relatively common one amongst male artists, influenced by Freudian theory. As elsewhere in Beuys's work, the female figure is not individualised.