Joseph Beuys

The Woman with the Dog

1975

Not on display

Artist: Joseph Beuys 1921–1986
Medium: Graphite, oil paint and metal on paper and card
Dimensions: Support (top): 254 × 264 mm
support (lower, each): 254 × 260 mm
frame: 876 × 1130 × 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: AR00127

Online caption

Some of Beuys's drawings can be difficult to decipher. Despite the title, neither a human figure nor an animal is immediately apparent here, although the dark shapes in the top drawing are reminiscent of a dog's head. The two rows of drawings beneath appear to show a landscape, and their arrangement resembles a comic strip, as if a story is being told through the sequence. Beuys's drawings often featured the animals he loved. He felt that animals retained a natural instinct and closeness to nature that humans have lost.