Block Beuys
Joseph Beuys (1921 – 1986) was one of the major artists of the 20th century. With "Block Beuys", the Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt possesses his largest authentic body of work in the world.
In seven galleries, almost 300 works from the period between 1949 and 1972 are arranged. This collection includes significant pieces such as "Chair with Fat," "Felt Suit," "Eurasian Staff," or "Scene from the Deer Hunt," along with large installations like "Trans-Siberian Railway," "FOND II," and "FOND III." In addition to the freestanding works, 23 display cases contain objects from actions and and numerous edition objects. The arrangement of the rooms breaks with conventional forms of museum presentation, creating a unique aesthetic experience.
For Beuys, art should not be an end in itself but a means of communication and shared discussion. In his theory of "social sculpture", Beuys described art and society as interlocking processes of communal formation. According to him, everyone should participate in it: "Every human being is an artist" was his call.
In 1967, the Darmstadt collector Karl Ströher acquired all works from Beuys’ museum exhibition in Mönchengladbach and later additional works. After a touring exhibition, Beuys set up "Block Beuys" in Darmstadt in April 1970. In 1989, the Cultural Foundation of Hesse acquired the complex with the support of the Cultural Foundation of the German Federal States and donated it to the Hessisches Landesmuseum in 1995.
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