Joseph Beuys

German artist, teacher, and theorist of art (1921-1986) · Germany · Artists · Died at 64

Joseph Beuys is read about 727 times a day, in 51 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 15 October 2026

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Joseph Beuys turned art into a vehicle for direct democracy and ecological politics, staging performances that doubled as manifestos and founding a free university on the premise that creativity was a social force, not a gallery object.

Artists Artist Sculpture Painting Photography Talk Shows DJ Art

A life in dates

1986Died23 January 1986Wilhelm Lehmbruck AwardAward1979Goslarer KaiserringAward1978“I am interested in the creativity of the criminal attitude because I recognize in it the existence of a special condition of crazy creativity.”In their wordsQuoted by Germano Celant, Beuys, tracce in Italia, Amelio, 1978Read the whole statement

1974“It is a special kind of secret how these Asiatic elements [of American Indians] came over the Bering Strait long ago. It's the same with the coyote.”In their wordsQuote of Beuys in an interview with Alan Moore and Edit deAk, 1974; as cited in: Joseph Beuys in America: Energy Plan for the Western Man.,Read the whole statement

“I try to go further on over the threshold where modern art ends and anthropological art has to start.”In their wordsQuote by Furlang, 1974, p. 7; as quoted in Joseph Beuys and the Celtic Wor(l)d: A Language of Healing, Victoria Walters, LIT VerlagRead the whole statement

1972“Creativity is not limited to people practising one of the traditional forms of art, and even in the case of artists, creativity is not confined to the exercise of their art.”In their wordsQuote of Joseph Beuys and Heinrich Böll (1972), as cited in Joseph Beuys, exh. cat., Caroline Tisdall, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NewRead the whole statement

1969“Even the act of peeling a potato can be an artistic act if it is consciously done.”In their wordsNovember 1969Three quotes of Joseph Beuys, in 'An interview with Joseph Beuys,', Willoughby Sharp, published in 'Artforum,' November 1969; as quoted inRead the whole statement

“my art cannot be understood primarily by thinking. My art touches people who are in tune with my mode of thinking.”In their wordsQuote in interview with Willoughby Sharp, 1969; as quoted in Joseph Beuys and the Celtic Wor(l)d: A Language of Healing, Victoria Walters,Read the whole statement

1921Born12 May 1921

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Beuys-Feldman-Gallery

"Ständige Vertretung" Berlin Innenansicht 4

1972, Umberto Mariani, Joseph Beuys, Jean Pierre Van Tieghem, Documenta 5, Kassel

Akademieschliessung

Bad Beuys go Africa Action by Frankfurter Hauptschule

Beuys-Feldman-Gallery (cropped)

BeuysAchberg73

BeuysAchberg78

In their own words 10

Joseph Beuys

10 statements, newest first

I am interested in the creativity of the criminal attitude because I recognize in it the existence of a special condition of crazy creativity.
1978, Quoted by Germano Celant, Beuys, tracce in Italia, Amelio, 1978, Own words
It is a special kind of secret how these Asiatic elements [of American Indians] came over the Bering Strait long ago. It's the same with the coyote.
1974, Quote of Beuys in an interview with Alan Moore and Edit deAk, 1974; as cited in: Joseph Beuys in America: Energy Plan for the Western Man.,, Own words
For instance the idea of intuition, imagination, inspiration.. ..is related in the principle to an invisible world..
1974, Quote from 'A. Beuys in the wilderness', 1974 (lecture at the Ulster Museum); as cited in Joseph Beuys and the Celtic Wor(l)d: A Language, Own words

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Awards

Wilhelm Lehmbruck Award1986

Goslarer Kaiserring1979

Lichtwark Prize

About this person

Born 12 May 1921 in Germany, Beuys taught at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf from 1961 until his dismissal in 1972, a period in which he became a singular figure in Fluxus and the development of performance art - what he called Kunst Aktionen. He co-founded the Free International University for Creativity & Interdisciplinary Research and launched The Party for Animals and The Organisation for Direct Democracy, treating his talks and actions as inseparable from his art. One biographer, Reinhard Ermen, called him the "ideal antagonist" of Andy Warhol. He was a founding member of the German Green Party and remained a supporter until his death on 23 January 1986.

Country

Germany

In common with Joseph

Wolf VostellAlso in Happening, Kunst, Protest 1968 (1981)

Werner NekesAlso in Beuys (1981)

Jean-Jacques LebelAlso in Happening, Kunst, Protest 1968 (1981)

Helmut HerbstAlso in Happening, Kunst, Protest 1968 (1981)

Otto DixBoth received Lichtwark Prize

Oskar KokoschkaBoth received Lichtwark Prize

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