Joseph Beuys

For FOND II

1968

© DACS, 2020

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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.

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