Joseph Heinrich Beuys

Born. 12.05.1921 in Krefeld
Died. 23.01.1986 in Düsseldorf

German action artist, sculptor, illustrator

About the artist

Joseph Beuys was born on 12 May 1921 in Krefeld. Joseph Beuys attended the Catholic elementary school, followed by Cleve High School. He could play the piano and cello and showed exceptional talent in drawing classes. He would often visit the Flemish painter and sculptor Achilles Moortgat, who introduced him to works from other great artists.  As a young man, Beuys was interested in many subjects and his thirst for knowledge was to be admired. In 1936, it is documented that the 15-year-old Beuys’ was a member of the Hitler Youth.

Beuys decided to become a sculptor in 1938 the same year that he was playing the cello at the “Bannorchester”. In 1939 he joined the circus when he was 18 to work as a keeper and poster delivery man.  Ironically, even though he was interested in many subjects, it is not known if he graduated from high school or not.

During the war years, Beuys joined the Luftwaffe, signing on for 12 years, where he trained as an airborne radio operator but also worked as a gunner and weapons tester. During his time in the Luftwaffe, he produced various sketches and drawings.

Beuys was on a flight when his plane crashed in the Crimea. The pilot died and Beuys was seriously injured. He was found 8 days later by a German search party and taken to the mobile military hospital.

It is said that nomadic Tatars had nursed him for eight days using only animal fat to tend his wounds and wrapping him in felt. This event was used to explain Beuys’ preference for the materials fat and felt which he described later in a BBC interview.

In August 1944, Beuys was sent to the Western Front, he became a British prisoner of war and was allowed to leave on 5 August 1945. Severely injured, he returned to his parents in Neu-Rindern near Kleve.

From 1946 Beuys studied monumental sculpture at the State Academy of Art in Düsseldorf.
He became a main student of Ewald Mataré in 1951 and lived in the studio until 1954. During this time, Beuys won a prize at the 1952 Iron and Steel exhibition. He completed his studies on 31 March 1953 at the age of 32.

In 1954 Beuys moved into his studio in Düsseldorf-Heerdt working on a commission basis, making furniture and even a gravestone.
Three years later, his father was seriously ill so Beuys moved to Kleve to be near him. He rented a studio and created an oak cross as a memorial to those who had given their lives during the great wars that still hangs in the Old Church Tower in Meerbusch-Büderich. His father died the following year in 1958.

On September 19, 1959, Joseph Beuys married Eva-Maria Wurmbach, whom he had met a year earlier. They had two children Boien Wenzel, born in 1961, and Jessyka, born in 1964.

In 1961, Beuys was appointed professor of monumental sculpture at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. His teaching methods were often considered controversial, with long discussions about various themes that did not seem relevant to the course. In the late 60s he was not happy with the administration procedure for new students and he wanted the entry requirements to be abolished. A situation that caused so much conflict that he was dismissed from his post in 1972. After leaving he continued to give public lectures and discussions, and was more politically active.

Beuys died of heart failure on 23 January 1986, in Düsseldorf.