Joseph Beuys

Untitled

1959

Not on display

Artist: Joseph Beuys 1921–1986
Medium: Graphite, oil paint and typescript on paper
Dimensions: Support: 210 × 297 mm
frame: 680 × 525 × 33 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: AR00643

Online caption

The brown used in this drawing is the 'Breunkreuz' (literally translated as 'Brown cross') oil paint Beuys used from the 1950s onwards. The effect of the paint reminded the artist of the walls and floors of houses in his native West Germany, and recalls earth and nature. Here, the matt paint looks as if it has been painted over something to hide it, with the deliberate triangular shape at the top of the page, and the way the paint clings closely to the edges of the strange shape or figure below.