INTELLIGENTIA
About this artwork
This drawing is a study of several different creatures. On the left are the long legs of a bird, paired with strange rectangular wings which have a mechanistic look. The shape at the top is a schematic drawing of a bird's body with a horizontal line to represent outstretched wings. Extending below the body is a long shape which looks like the segmented body of a bee. To the bottom right is a pair of swans. Beuys's interest in the swan can be traced back to his childhood, when he was told medieval legends involving swans and could see the sculpture of a golden swan on the roof of a castle from his bedroom window.
Updated before 2020
see media-
artist:Joseph Beuys (1921 - 1986) German
-
title:INTELLIGENTIA
-
date created:1965
-
materials:Graphite on paper
-
measurements:25.40 x 25.60 cm
-
object type:
-
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
-
accession number:AR00668
-
gallery:
-
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...