Science in the Arts
A Controversial Academic and an Icon of Modern Art:
Joseph Beuys
Marek H. Dominiczak*
In the 20th century the concept of art changed considerably. Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) extended the
definition of art beyond the conventional painting and
sculpture, including in it the found objects, named
readymades. In the 1960s, a network of artists known
as Fluxus, a movement initiated by Lithuanian-born
George Maciunas, attempted to create a unified, interdisciplinary art that crossed boundaries between literature, music, painting, film, and performance. The
even broader idea was to fuse art with life: thus also
the political and social involvement of movement’s
participants (1, 2 ).
It is in this context that one looks at the German
artist Joseph Beuys (1921– 86), who achieved an iconic
status in 20th century art (2– 4 ). Beuys was primarily a
sculptor, but his practice also included drawing and
painting, as well as performance, happening, and installations. He extensively linked his practice with addressing
social issues, and was an academic who highly valued
teaching.
Beuys was born in 1921 in Krefeld, Germany. He
belongs to a generation of artists who tried to come to
terms with the cultural aftermath of the 2nd World War.
During the war he was a pilot in the Luftwaffe; he was
shot down in Crimea in 1944 and the traumas of war
were referred to in his early work. After the war he studied
at the State Academy of Arts (Kunstakademie) in Düsseldorf, an art school that became prominent in the 1960s.
His most important teacher was Ewald Mataré (1887–
1965), an accomplished sculptor with original ideas concerning art education (5 ). Beuys was also influenced by
the antroposophy philosophy of Rudolf Steiner (1861–
1925), a philosophy that purported to examine human
spirituality using a scientific approach (6 ). Beuys contributed to Fluxus in 1962–1964, but later distanced
himself from it.
His central idea was that everybody was an artist and
that art was essential for social renewal. His first performance (he used a German word Aktion to describe it)
College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
* Address correspondence to the author at: Gartnavel General Hospital, 1053 Great
Western Rd., Glasgow G12 0YN, Scotland, UK. Fax +44 –141-211–3452; e-mail
[email protected].
Received December 16, 2015; accepted December 22, 2015.
© 2015 American Association for Clinical Chemistry
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took place in 1963. One of his best known ones was How
to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare, performed in the
Galerie Schmela in Düsseldorf in 1965 (4 ). In his sculpture, he used fat and felt as his materials, a result of his
wartime experience, he maintained. In 1967 he introduced Vitrines, presentations of assorted objects in
museum–like display cases (4 ). He also made the socalled multiples: artworks produced in many copies, such
as books with drawings or sets of diverse everyday objects.
The term “multiples” was introduced by the Romanianborn Swiss artist Daniel Spoerri, and such works were
commonly created by Fluxus artists (7 ). Beuys’s multiples were often handmade rather than just mechanically
reproduced. A multiple shown in Fig. 1 is Sulphur Covered Zinc Box (Plugged Corner).
Beuys engaged with politics: in 1967 he founded the
German Students’ Party, which was later renamed Fluxus
Zone West, and then the Organization of Non-Voters
Free Plebiscite. He was also involved with the Green
Party, founded in 1980 (4, 8 ).
Beuys was interested in the environment and urban
renewal. His project entitled 7000 Oaks involved the
planting of 7000 trees in the city. It was initiated in 1981
at The Documenta VII exhibition in Kassel and was
completed in 1987. Later, more trees were planted in
New York, and in 1984 in Bolognano, Italy (4 ).
His academic life was stormy, to say the least. He
took up a position of professor of monumental sculpture
at the Düsseldorf Academy in 1961. He was strongly
against exclusivity of the arts, and the imposition of student admission limits. In 1971, he conceived a plan for a
Free International Academy for Creativity, hoping to
form a school with a curriculum that would integrate
artistic and sociological studies. The aim was to “craft a
human being who can determine something” (4). At one
point he was accused by his academic colleagues of “presumptuous political dilettantism, passion for ideological tutelage,
demagogical practice- and in its wake—intolerance, defamation and uncollegial spirit aimed at the dissolution of present
order” (4). The dispute about student admission policy led to
his dismissal from the Academy in 1972 and a 6-year battle for
reinstatement, which was, at the end, successful. And yet, in
spite of the controversies, there was substantial recognition,
such as an honorary doctorate from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax. Beuys also became a
member of the Berlin Academy of the Arts (4 ).
Science in the Arts
the pillars of the school’s standing in art history. The
question Beuys’s academic career raises is how should
contemporary academia treat creative mavericks that are
not interested in conforming? Clearly, dismissal is not a
wise long-term strategy.
Author Contributions: All authors confirmed they have contributed to
the intellectual content of this paper and have met the following 3 requirements: (a) significant contributions to the conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; (b) drafting or revising
the article for intellectual content; and (c) final approval of the published
article.
Authors’ Disclosures or Potential Conflicts of Interest: No authors
declared any potential conflicts of interest.
Fig. 1. Joseph Beuys. Sulphur Covered Zinc Box (Plugged
Corner), 1970. Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum, The Willy and Charlotte Reber Collection, Louise
Haskell Daly Fund, 1995.227.A-B. ©Artists Rights Society
(ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn. Photo: Imaging Department ©President and Fellows of Harvard College. Reproduced with permission.
Interestingly, although his career has flourished predominantly in Europe, his only major retrospective exhibition
was staged in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in
New York in 1980.
There are multiple layers to Beuys’s story. One of
them is his controversial attitude to academia and his
rather disruptive relationship with his institution. And
yet, several of his seemingly utopian ideas survived. For
instance, we can today easily relate to his 7000 Oaks
project, particularly in the context of the recent Paris
summit on climate change. What is remarkable is that his
presence at the Academy of Arts eventually became one of
Acknowledgments: My thanks to Jacky Gardiner for her excellent
secretarial assistance.
References
1. Fluxus. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluxus (Accessed December 2015).
2. Rosenthal M. Joseph Beuys: staging sculpture. In: Rosenthal M, Rainbird S, Schmuckli
C. Joseph Beuys: actions, vitrines, environments. Houston and London: The Menil
Collection in association with Tate Publishing; 2004. p 10 –135.
3. Walker Art Center. Joseph Beuys. http://www.walkerart.org/collections/artists/josephbeuys (Accessed December 2015).
4. Schmuckli C. Chronology and selected exhibition history. In Rosenthal M, Rainbird S,
Schmuckli C. Joseph Beuys: actions, vitrines, environments. Houston and London: The
Menil Collection and Tate Publishing; 2004. p 150 –201.
5. Ewald Mataré. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewald_Matar%C3%A9 (Accessed December 2015).
6. Wilkinson R. Rudolf Steiner. An introduction to his spiritual world-view, anthroposophy. http://www.anthroposophy.org.uk/book/ (Accessed December 2015).
7. Multiples by Joseph Beuys from the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich. http://
pinakothek-beuys-multiples.de/en (Accessed December 2015).
8. Joachimides CM, Rosennthal N, Schmied W. German art in the 20th century. Painting
and sculpture 1905–1985. London and Munich: The Royal Academy of Arts and Prestel
Verlag; 1985. p 27–132.
DOI: 10.1373/clinchem.2015.252221
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