Joseph Beuys

1921–1986

In Tate Modern

Prints and Drawings Rooms

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Biography

Joseph Heinrich Beuys ( BOYSS, German: [ˈjoːzɛf ˈbɔʏs]; 12 May 1921 – 23 January 1986) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism, sociology, and anthroposophy. He is a founder of the provocative art movement known as Fluxus, and was a key figure in the development of Happenings.

Beuys is known for his "extended definition of art" in which the ideas of social sculpture could potentially reshape society and politics. He frequently held open public debates on a wide range of subjects, including political, environmental, social, and long-term cultural issues.

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Artworks

Left Right

Joseph Beuys Untitled [from the book ‘Madrid Codex’]

1975

View by appointment
Joseph Beuys We Won’t Do It without the Rose, Because We Can No Longer Think

1972
Joseph Beuys Internationales Colloquium. Sonnabend Gallery, New York

1973
Joseph Beuys Joseph Beuys. Ulbricht Collection

1974
Joseph Beuys Actresses

1958
Joseph Beuys Beuys und Leonardo. Munich

date not known
Joseph Beuys The Shaman’s Two Bags

1977
Joseph Beuys Joseph Beuys: Partituren Zeichnungen Multiples. Galerie Jan Wagner

1999

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Artist as subject

Left Right

Joseph Beuys (Poster without text)

1975
Joseph Beuys Joseph Beuys. Jeder Mensch ein Kunstler

1978
Joseph Beuys Beuys vor Beuys. Palacio de Sastago, Zaragoza and Casa del Monte, Madrid

1990
Joseph Beuys Aktionen ws 68/69. Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Kunste Braunschweig

1968–9
Joseph Beuys Meeting of Lady Roseberry, Joseph Beuys and Buckminster Fuller

1974
Joseph Beuys Avalanche 1970. Kölnischer Kunstverein

1973
Joseph Beuys Beuys & Christiansen. Konzert

1969
Joseph Beuys Meeting with Beuys, Galleria Lucrezia De Domizio, Pescara

1974
Joseph Beuys Die besten Flugblätter der Welt. 7.Produzentengalerie, Berlin

1974

See all 195

Film and audio

Listen

Katie Guggenheim Recordings - Joseph Beuys

Working with six actors and using published interviews as scripts, artist Katie Guggenheim re-staged conversations with some of the twentieth …

Features

Left Right

Tate Etc

Now is for ever, again: The everyday

Francesco Bonami

From Gabriel Orozco’s exhibition of yoghurt pot lids to Rirkrit Tiravanija’s transformation of a gallery into a kitchen to serve …
Tate Etc

Opinion: Art and Democracy

John-Paul Stonard

A response to Ai Weiwei's quotation on art's relation to democracy
Art Term

Vitrine

A large, glass cabinet used for displaying art objects
Art Term

Conceptual art

Conceptual art is art for which the idea (or concept) behind the work is more important than the finished art …
Art Term

Iconography

The iconography of an artwork is the imagery within it
Art Term

Performance art

Artworks that are created through actions performed by the artist or other participants, which may be live or recorded, spontaneous …
Art Term

Ephemeral art

Ephemeral art is art that only lasts for a short amount of time
Art Term

Social sculpture

Social sculpture is a theory developed by the artist Joseph Beuys in the 1970s based on the concept that everything …
Art Term

Environmental art

Environmental art is art that addresses social and political issues relating to the natural and urban environment
Art Term

Educational turn

A theme that emerged in the mid-1990s, educational turn refers to collaborative or research-based art where the impetus is on …