Remember Joseph Beuys: Siena Retrospective Draws on Lucrezia De Domizio Durini Collection

The Magazzini della Corticella at Santa Maria della Scala in Siena hosts the retrospective Remember Joseph Beuys from 13 September to 15 November 2026, drawn largely from the private collection of Lucrezia De Domizio Durini. The project was conceived by De Domizio Durini, curated by Lorenzo Metzler, with scientific contributions from Giorgio D'Orazio. Alongside a core group of photographs by Buby Durini, the exhibition includes a newly commissioned homage work by the Sienese artist Jacopo Pischedda. The show occupies the medieval hospital complex of Santa Maria della Scala. The article also revisits Beuys's biography and practice: born in Krefeld in 1921 and died in Düsseldorf in 1986, he taught at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where at the start of an academic year he refused the customary selection process and admitted all students who wished to study art, an act that led to his dismissal. His wartime service in the Luftwaffe ended when his plane was shot down over the Soviet steppe; he was rescued by a nomadic Tatar tribe, whose primordial remedies introduced him to fat and felt, materials that recur throughout his work, as in I like America and America likes me (1974) and Sedia con grasso (1964). He was later held in a British prisoner-of-war camp. Works cited include La Rivoluzione Siamo Noi (1971) and 7000 Oak Trees (1982). The exhibition is framed as a reflection on Beuys's legacy amid ongoing wars and renewed attacks on environmental and climate protections.