Joseph Beuys

Dove, Food, Rainbow

1949

Not on display

Artist: Joseph Beuys 1921–1986
Medium: Graphite and watercolour on card
Dimensions: Support: 207 × 297 mm
frame: 674 × 541 × 30 mm
Collection: ARTIST ROOMS Tate and 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: AR00095

Online caption

This painting was made while Beuys was a student at the Staatliche Kunstakademie (State Academy of Art) in Düsseldorf, where he studied from 1947 to 1951. In this period immediately after the Second World War, in which Beuys had participated as a fighter pilot, nature was a central source of inspiration. Much of the artist's work included plant and animal forms. Here, he has emphasised the simple outlines of the three elements of the picture, which are arranged harmoniously to form a circle. Beuys had shown a talent for painting in watercolour from a young age, with some of his paintings displayed in his school.