Joseph Beuys: A Colorful World

This sampler explores three Joseph Beuys works in three the collection of drawings, "Kolner Mappe" or "Cologne Portfolio"; the sculptural object "Tur," or "Door;" and an environment, "Basisraum Nasse Wasche," literally "Basic Room Wet Laundry." The "Cologne Portfolio" is an unusually broad, privately assembled group of 64 Beuys drawings made between 1945 and 1973, put together by a Cologne collector and later brought to Vienna's Museum of Modern Art. "Tur," 1954-56, is a burnt door to which Beuys applied a heron's skull and a rabbit pelt. The installation piece, "Basisraum Nasse Wasche," was created in 1979 for two Viennese exhibitions, and has traveled to several venues over the years. Photo documentation of its various presentations shows how very much each exhibition space has impacted this important Beuys environment.