Crystal Measurement
About this artwork
This work is particularly striking for its bold use of colour. Beuys often worked with natural or neutral-coloured materials and tended to use colour sparingly and deliberately. Early in his life, Beuys's parents had hoped that he would pursue a career in the natural sciences and although he chose art instead, science remained a lifelong interest. In 1949 he made a wooden model of a crystal, fascinated by its 'mathematical and platonic orders'. He continued to use the 'crystalline principle' as a symbol of reason, which, if not tempered by the warmth of intuition and emotion, would remain cold and lifeless.
Updated before 2020
see media-
artist:Joseph Beuys (1921 - 1986) German
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title:Crystal Measurement
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date created:1954
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materials:Watercolour on paper
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measurements:27.60 x 30.50 cm
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object type:
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credit line:ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Acquired jointly through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Art Fund, 2008
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accession number:AR00632
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gallery:
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
Joseph Beuys
Joseph Beuys
German artist Beuys believed that art was integral to everyday life. According to Beuys his own art was shaped by an experience early in his life. As a Luftwaffe pilot during the war, he claimed that he was shot down over the Crimea and was saved by nomadic Tartars. Barely alive, he was wrapped in...