New Study Reexamines Joseph Beuys's Contradictory Legacy and Nazi Past
A new monograph by art historian Daniel Spaulding, 'Joseph Beuys and History,' critically reassesses the German artist's complex legacy. Beuys, born in 1921 in Krefeld, served in the Nazi Air Force before later presenting himself as a healer and shaman. The book argues his work should be interpreted as operating in bad faith, examining his ambiguous engagement with Germany's fascist history and his conceptual use of materials like felt, fat, and honey. Spaulding analyzes key installations such as the 1979 Guggenheim retrospective and 'Honigpumpe am Arbeitsplatz' from documenta 6, positioning Beuys as an early environmentalist whose art mirrored capitalist systems. The study contends that contemporary art has sanitized his challenging, contradictory approach to trauma and social transformation.
Key facts
- Daniel Spaulding's 'Joseph Beuys and History' is the first English-language monograph on the artist
- Joseph Beuys was born in 1921 in Krefeld, Germany and served in the Nazi Air Force
- Beuys later crafted a public persona as a healer and was a founding member of Germany's Green Party
- The book analyzes installations like his 1979 Guggenheim retrospective and 1977 'Honigpumpe' work
- Spaulding argues Beuys's art should be read as operating in bad faith regarding his Nazi past
Entities
Artists
Institutions
- Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
- Dia Art Foundation
- Museum Fridericianum
- Princeton University Press
Locations
- Krefeld
- Germany
- New York
- Kassel
- Crimea