"Joseph Beuys, Bonn"

Neg. 840/23

gelatin silver print

signed, titled, dated, artist stamp on verso

Photograph of the well-known German artist Joseph Beuys (1921-1986) during an action in 1983 at the Galerie Klein in Bonn. The action became famous in connection with Beuys' ecological project Difesa della natura, in which boxes of 12 rosé bottles with Beuys labels were to be sold at Klein for the benefit of the Free International University he founded in Düsseldorf. The gallery owner had forgotten to indicate on the invitation to whom the proceeds were to go, whereupon Beuys had the remaining invitation cards printed with the inscription ERHARD KLEIN UNKONZENTRIERT, signed and numbered them and offered them for sale. This triggered an artistic chain reaction that lasted several years: Albert Oehlen and Martin Kippenberger's edition ERHARD KLEIN VOLLKONZENTRIERT, Georg Herold with 10 vodka bottles ERHARD KLEIN KONZENTRAT, a music booklet by Friedrich Meschede ERHARD KLEIN KONZERTANT and finally the anniversary booklet written by Reiner Speck and Friedrich Schroers for the 20th anniversary of the gallery ERHARD KLEIN VOLL KONZENTRIERT.
(Stadtarchiv und Stadthistorische Bibliothek Bonn, Zeitfenster, Mai 2021, augias.net)

Difesa della Natura refers to an ecological campaign that Joseph Beuys and his dealer, Lucrezia de Domizio, executed in the 1980s with the help of the students of the Joseph Beuys Art Academy. The campaign required the use of a car, pamphlets, copper tubing, and spades that were meant to be plunged vigorously throughout the Italian countryside. Beuys sold the car, its contents, as well as two blackboards as part of his transformation routine of turning the performance materials into artworks that would be monetised and in turn fund other projects. Difesa della Natura does not only refer to ecological conditions of living, but above all Beuys wants it to be interpreted as an anthropological point of view: protection of the humankind, the individual, creativity and human values- topics that are still highly relevant today.
(Sotheby’s)