Beuys Multiples

Joseph Beuys was born in Krefeld in 1921, but grew up in nearby Kleve on the Dutch border. During World War II, he trained as a radio operator in a fighter plane¹. In 1944, he was shot down over Crimea and suffered injuries from which he never fully recovered.

After the war, Beuys soon turned to art: in 1947, he enrolled at the State Art Academy in Düsseldorf, where he studied until 1953 under the sculptor Ewald Mataré—a renowned German artist best known for his animal sculptures and commissioned works for churches. Mataré is characterized by a drawing style reduced to the essentials, with which he sought to penetrate beyond mere appearance to the true core of the underlying reality. The metaphysical quality of these works is reflected in Beuys's early drawings and sculptures, which are still clearly influenced by Mataré².

Gradually, however, Beuys emancipated himself from his teacher and developed his own aesthetic with a subjective iconography charged with complex meaning, which remained decisive for his entire oeuvre.

Rudolf Steiner's anthroposophical teachings were an important catalyst for Beuys³. Steiner saw rationalism as a consequence of the materialistic thinking of modern society, which he sought to counteract by promoting spiritual abilities such as imagination, inspiration, and intuition.⁴ In this way, society would regain its balance and develop further according to humanitarian principles, with art playing a central role in Steiner's view⁵. Beuys shared this conviction and saw himself in the role of someone who wanted to advocate for such spiritual renewal⁶.

_{1 For a detailed overview of Beuys' life up to World War II, see H. P. Riegel, Beuys. Die Biographie, Berlin 2013, pp. 9–64.}

_{2 On Beuys’ studies and his engagement with Mataré, see ibid., pp. 91–99, as well as Heiner Stachelhaus, Joseph Beuys, Düsseldorf, Vienna, New York 1991, pp. 31–42.} 

_{3 On the relationship between Beuys and Rudolf Steiner, see Verena Kuni, Der Künstler als “Magier” und “Alchemist” im Spannungsfeld von Produktion und Rezeption. Aspekte der Auseinandersetzung mit okkulten Traditionen in der europäischen Kunstgeschichte nach 1945. Eine vergleichende Fokusstudie – ausgehend von Joseph Beuys, unpublished dissertation, Philipps University of Marburg 2004, pp. 185–196; H. P. Riegel, Beuys. Die Biographie, pp. 100–110, pp. 124–132 and passim; John F. Moffitt, Occultism in Avant-Garde Art: The Case of Joseph Beuys, Ann Arbor 1988, chapters 5 and 6.} 

_{4 See two introductions by Steiner to his teachings and his view of spiritual human development: Rudolf Steiner, Theosophy. Introduction to Transcendental Knowledge of the World and Human Destiny, http://anthroposophie.byu.edu/schriften/009.pdf; How to Attain Knowledge of Higher Worlds, http://anthroposophie.byu.edu/schriften/010.pdf. Retrieved May 24, 2014.} 

_{5 In 1923, Steiner gave a series of lectures on art. These lectures were later published under the title The Mission of Art. http://anthroposophie.byu.edu/vortraege/059_09.pdf. Retrieved on May 24, 2014.} 

_{6 In 1972, Beuys commented on this in a discussion: “In my opinion, art is the only evolutionary force. This means that conditions can only change through human creativity. And I believe that many people feel that humanity, or this human aspect, can be developed most effectively through art.” Quoted in Werner Krüger, “Beuys: My struggle is a sculpture. Despite being expelled and banned from teaching, he intends to remain steadfast,” in: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, October 19, 1972. Reprinted in: Götz Adriani, Winfried Konnertz, and Karin Thomas, Joseph Beuys, Cologne 1973, p. 169.} 

In 1961, Beuys took over the professorship for sculpture at the Düsseldorf Academy from Sepp Mages. In the context of the Fluxus movement, he began to develop his action art in the following years, using materials that had previously been foreign to art, such as copper, fat, felt, and honey. These materials, like his actions, were charged with complex symbolic meanings, which Beuys believed could only be understood through intuitive abilities that were not accessible to rational thinking⁷.

His energy and diverse artistic and political activities quickly made him well known in the years that followed, but he was not without controversy. While his supporters were attracted by the immediacy of his aesthetics and the complex layers of meaning in his materials, critics branded him a charlatan who employed obscure and irrational mysticism. Beuys himself saw himself as a shaman who could contribute to the healing of society through the medium of art⁸.  His preoccupation with multiples, which began during this period, also points in this direction. He hoped that they would find their way beyond the narrow confines of museums, galleries, and exclusive private collections into numerous German and international collections, thus serving as a vehicle for his art to convey its intentions to a broad public.

In the early 1970s, Beuys intensified his socio-political engagement. As was already evident in the production of his multiples, he intended to expand his artistic practice, which led him to his “expanded concept of art.” Beuys recognized the creative potential inherent in public appearances such as lectures, teaching events, and political debates, and began to see society as a “social sculpture” shaped by the collective participation of its members. By viewing every form of human creativity as an artistic act, he wanted to harness the creative abilities of each individual. Accordingly, he advocated for the establishment of various organizations, including a university, an agricultural foundation, and a political party. In the course of his numerous political projects, his attempt to democratize higher education gained particular notoriety. To this end, he opened his Düsseldorf class to all applicants, which led to his immediate dismissal in 1972, although this was declared invalid by the Federal Labor Court six years later. In the years that followed, Beuys undertook numerous trips, including to the USA, Australia, Japan, and Italy, in order to further spread his artistic ideas through installations, exhibitions, and performances. He continued unwaveringly on his path against all odds until his deteriorating health forced him to reduce his workload in the mid-1980s.

^{7 This became particularly clear in the action How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare (1965), in which Beuys held a dead hare in his arms and whispered something to it that the audience could not understand as he walked past pictures with it. He later explained that his intention was to highlight the limited possibilities of rational abilities, particularly in relation to art: “The idea of explaining something to an animal promotes a sense of the mystery of the world and existence, which appeals to the imagination. As I said, even a dead animal retains stronger powers of intuition than some human beings with their relentless rationalism.” Quoted from Caroline Tisdall, Joseph Beuys, London 1979, p. 105. German translation in: Uwe M. Schneede, Joseph Beuys. Die Aktionen, Ostfildern-Ruit 1994, p. 103.} 

^{8 For Beuys' statements on the healing or therapeutic function of art, see, for example: Joseph Beuys, Dia Art Foundation, New York 1987, p. 18, and “Excerpts from a discussion with Joseph Beuys,” in: Axel Hinrich Murken, Beuys und die Medizin, Münster 1979, p. 152. On the significance of Beuys's assumption of the role of shaman as an attempt to establish a connection between the visible realm of matter and the invisible sphere of the spirit, see Murken, p. 131 f.; “Joseph Beuys in Conversation with Caroline Tisdall, 1974” in: Secret Block for a Secret Person in Ireland, Kunsthalle Tübingen, Tübingen 1988, p. 49, and Joseph Beuys. Schamane, Nuremberg 2008, p. 2.} 

When Beuys died in 1986, he had long since become one of the most important artists of his time. He was not only appreciated for his actual artistic works, but also received great recognition for raising public awareness of the social role of art. In addition, many of his students, who had since become internationally successful artists themselves, ultimately recognized his special abilities as a teacher.

In the years that followed, his artistic legacy became increasingly important, especially in the field of social sculpture. His idea of a work of art as the product of a social process was taken up by many artists of the younger generation and led to a lasting change in contemporary art in the 1990s and 2000s. Despite all the controversies he faced during his lifetime, Joseph Beuys left a deep mark that led to a fundamentally new understanding of the concept of art.