Joseph Beuys

For FOND II

1968

Not on display

Artist: Joseph Beuys 1921–1986
Medium: Oil paint and ink on paper
Dimensions: Support: 264 × 200 mm
frame: 678 × 524 × 37 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: AR00679

Online caption

'Fond' is used by Beuys as a term for a battery. Although diverse in realisation, his FOND series of works all present a means for storage and/or transmission of energy from a power source. They also epitomise the artist's combination of art with science. FOND I (1957), was a jar which had been filled with pears by the artist's mother to preserve them. FOND II (to which this drawing refers) was a sculpture of 1968, which included two copper tables charged with 20,000 volts, plus batteries and chemical apparatus. In FOND III (also 1968) the artist combined felt sheets with copper plates to represent the creation and storage of energy.