Joseph Beuys - the controversial with the extended concept of art

Joseph Beuys is still not understood by many critics today, but is undisputedly one of the most important artists of the 20th century.

The campaign artist, sculptor, draftsman and art theorist re -formed the concept of art by dealing with humanism and social philosophy, anthroposophy and politics in his work. Beuys developed an "expanded concept of art" that demands creative help in society and politics from the artist.

Even if the opinions about the value of his works of art differ, with this postulate, he ideally fulfills a popular idea of ​​the artist who is interested and committed and does not act questioningly about material prosperity.

His concept of art introduced to art through school lessons and his personal acquaintance with the Flemish painter

In young Joseph, Moortgat also aroused an enthusiasm for the Nordic mythology, whose youthful misinterpretation only drove him to the Hitler Youth and then voluntarily to the Air Force in 1941. Where he even earned the Iron Cross with his military performance.

At one of his five aircraft tortures in the war, Beuy's suffered serious injuries and only survived because Crimean Tatars preserved him from freezing and felting ceilings before you have to freeze.

This explains the role that felt and fat later took on in his art. Even through such experiences, the already absolute turn to the military and party policy for the strictly Catholic Beuy's past was never an absolute way.

Rather, after his release from captivity, he finally decided to become an artist. He wrote down at the Düsseldorf art academy for sculpture, joined the "Klever Künstlerbund" and became the master student of the important Ewald Mataré in 1951.

During the time in the military, the nature -interested Beuys had learned more about zoology and botany from his trainer Heinz Sielmann, while studying he dealt with Rudolf Steiner's ideas and anthroposophy.

Steiner's teaching, which puts people in the center and wants to open access to the supernatural potential, should have a decisive influence on Beuys' path, they showed him the way to a mystical worldview.

After graduating from studying in 1953, Beuys moved more and more from the classic sculpture work, he was heavy with his art and temporarily fell into deep depression. When the Düsseldorf Beuys art academy called the chair for monumental sculpture in 1961, he had already developed its extended concept of art, the “social plastic” and caused a sensation with the saying that “every person was an artist”.

At the beginning of the 1970s, Beuys began to solve themselves completely from the rules of academic operation. He accepted students regardless of the recording criteria and was therefore released by the art academy in 1972.

However, Beuy's work, which now consisted of installations and objects of the most unusual materials, of painting and drawings, was able to achieve international recognition during this time, Beuys became one of the most expensive artists in the world. Who largely met with his public concept in public, sometimes even to a strong rejection, every public purchase of his works triggered major debates.

Numerous scandals and scandals characterized his further work: in 1973, two local politicians ignored his work "unit (bathtub)" when they cleaned the supposedly dirty sanitary object and then used it for rinsing the glass.

In 1980, the purchase of a object made of corpses and fat paid by DM 270,000 DM was described as the "most expensive bulky waste ever" as "waste of tax funds".

“Fettecke” through this event and simply cleaned the work of art away.

Since then, the art lovers have been struggling with the idea of ​​art as an idea, in the art world Beuys is still controversial for decades after his death. And yet Beuys influenced many subsequent artists with his artificial version.

The repeated eclats around his works of art have also almost unnoticed, but decisively contributed to anchoring the idea of ​​art as a socially forming force in the minds of people.