- Artist
- Joseph Beuys 1921–1986
- Original title
- : aus dem Leben der Bienen
- Medium
- Watercolour on paper
- Dimensions
- Support: 502 × 685 mm
frame: 732 × 922 × 38 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
- AR00635
Online caption
Bees were among the animals in which Beuys was most interested and they appear in his work through his life. While at art school he produced a series of drawings called 'Queen Bees', but his interest may have begun after reading the philosopher Rudolf Steiner's 1923 lecture on bees in which Steiner compared the functioning of a beehive to human society. Beuys viewed bees as a symbol of socialism due to the way in which they live and work together; he was also fascinated by the production of honey. The scientific apparatus featured in this drawing reappears in other works by Beuys of the mid-to late 1950s.