520 - Joseph Beuys* (Krefeld 1921 - 1986 Düsseldorf )

Joseph Beuys* (Krefeld 1921 - 1986 Düsseldorf ) Board III, 1979 serigraph/paper 37 x 27 cm signed Joseph Beuys SCHÄTZPREIS / ESTIMATE € 150 - 250 STARTPREIS / STARTING PRICE € 150 Joseph Heinrich Beuys was born on May 12, 1921, in Krefeld and grew up in Kleve in the Lower Rhine region. During the Second World War, he served as a radio operator in the Luftwaffe. Beuys later incorporated the aftermath of a 1943 plane crash in the Crimea into a complex personal mythology, in which felt and fat—as materials representing warmth, protection, energy, and transformation—took on central importance. From 1947 to 1953, Beuys studied at the Düsseldorf Art Academy, initially under Joseph Enseling and subsequently as a master student of Ewald Mataré. During this period, he began creating an extensive body of drawings and developed a growing interest in natural science, mythology, anthroposophy, and social issues. In 1961, he was appointed Professor of Monumental Sculpture at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. His open approach to teaching and his advocacy for unrestricted access to higher education led to his dismissal in 1972. From the early 1960s onwards, Beuys expanded the concept of sculpture to encompass actions, language, materials, and social processes. Within the context of the Fluxus movement, he developed his "actions," in which he engaged—in a ritualistic and performative manner—with themes such as memory, healing, communication, nature, and political change. He viewed materials such as felt, fat, copper, honey, wax, animals, and found objects not merely as physical substances, but as carriers of symbolic and energetic meaning. For Beuys, every human being was a potential artist by virtue of their creative abilities. He used the term "Social Sculpture" to describe the active, collaborative shaping of society. This way of thinking shaped projects such as the Free International University for Creativity and Interdisciplinary Research—founded with Heinrich Böll in 1972—and the 7,000 Oaks initiative (Stadtverwaldung statt Stadtverwaltung / "Urban Forestation instead of Urban Administration") for documenta 7 in Kassel in 1982. Joseph Beuys died in Düsseldorf on January 23, 1986. PLEASE NOTE: The purchase price consists of the highest bid plus the buyer's premium, sales tax and, if applicable, the fee of artists resale rights and platform fee. In the case of normal taxation (marked ° at the estimate), a premium of 24% is added to the highest bid. The mandatory sales tax is added to the sum of the highest bid, the buyer's premium and platform fee. This amounts to 13% for paintings, drawings, graphic works and sculptures and 20% for photographs and all other items. The buyer's premium amounts to 28% in case of differential taxation. The sales tax is included in the differential taxation.