Joseph Beuys

JOSEPH BEUYS (Germany, 1921–1986).
“Vorsicht frisch gebohnert, FIU-GM BV,” 1980.
Unique.
Features handwritten inscriptions and a stamp.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 13 x 20 cm; 43 x 33 cm (frame).

This unique graphic work belongs to the universe of Joseph Beuys’s multiples, a fundamental concept within his body of work through which the artist sought to democratize the artwork and distance it from the traditional idea of a unique and inaccessible piece. Created in direct connection with his collaboration with the German designer, publisher, and political artist Klaus Staeck, the work continues one of Beuys’s most ironic and critical themes: a reflection on art, its materials, and the public’s perception of them. The title “Vorsicht frisch gebohnert!” (“Caution: Freshly Waxed!”) uses an everyday expression associated with warning signs in public spaces to create an image laden with humor and double meaning. Beuys transforms a domestic and seemingly banal message into a reflection on the very nature of art.

Joseph Beuys was one of the most influential conceptual artists in 20th-century Europe. Trained at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf, where he later taught, he developed a multidisciplinary practice that spanned sculpture, installation, drawing, and performance art. In 1962, he became involved with the Fluxus movement, emerging as one of its leading figures. In 1979, a major retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in New York cemented his international recognition. His work is currently part of the collections of institutions such as MoMA in New York, the Tate Modern in London, the Guggenheim Museum, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, among others.