Monuments to the Stag, 1982 

While the natural and the spiritual spheres fade, a centenary reminds us of an unmistakable artist’s continued potential to inspire. An expanded view of art, social aesthetics, and direct democracy were goals that a radical agitator left midway, for others with the same nomadic spirit to follow suit.

The tradition of idealism and romanticism in northern and central Europe established Joseph Beuys as one of its favorite heirs. Influenced by his readings of Novalis, Schiller, Goethe, Jean Paul, Nietzsche, Hegel, and Kierkegaard, and later by the teachings of Rudolf Steiner, theosophist and principal inspirer of his social theories, the artist lived one of the most intense trajectories of the second half of the 20th century... [Full article]