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'[The Tartars] covered my body in fat to help it regenerate warmth, and wrapped it in felt as an insulator to keep warmth in.' —Joseph Beuys
In the late winter of 1944, on the remote, icy plains of the Crimean front just a few miles from Znamenka, Russian soldiers shot down a Luftwaffe plane belonging to the German airforce during World War II. One of the plane’s pilots somehow survived the impact, buried in snow underneath the fallen aircraft but hidden from sight. The young soldier, not 23, was Joseph Beuys, a man who, following Germany’s unconditional surrender in 1945, would come to be recognised as one of the preeminent figures of international conceptual art. As the story goes, Beuys was rescued by the Tartars, a nomadic people of the Crimea, then a no-man’s land between the Russian and German borders. ‘I remember voices saying “Voda” (Water)’ the artist recounted, ‘then the felt of their tents, and the dense pungent smell of cheese, fat and milk. They covered my body in fat to help it regenerate warmth, and wrapped it in felt as an insulator to keep warmth in.’ Following an arduous period of recovery which lasted several days, Beuys was returned to the German army and completed his convalescence in a military hospital. Several other accounts of this story exist, including ones which instead maintain that Beuys was rescued by German troops and immediately brought back to camp. Nonetheless, Beuys’ encounter with the Tartars, however fabled, reveals the artist’s esoteric response to the atrocities of the war – a rebirth by way of fat and felt.
Sled (1969) is one of Joseph Beuys’ most celebrated multiples, relating directly to his mythical encounter with the nomadic people. A felt cover for warmth, a flashlight for orientation, and a ball of fat for food sit atop a sled fully supplied for a challenging expedition. In 1969, the same year as Sled’s completion, Beuys created The Pack, a set of 24 sleds organised in formation, almost like a real rescue team. Emerging out of a Volkswagen van, Beuys emphasises the sled’s utility in a time of crisis, with the motorised vehicle limited by its own modern complexity.
Joseph Beuys with his work The Pack (1969) at the Guggenheim Museum prior to the opening of his 1979 retrospective. Image: Ted Thai/Getty Images © DACS 2021 Viewing art as a means towards social change, Beuys’ Sled then not only represents provision, it also offers a route towards a fundamental, primitive freedom. ‘The most direct kind of movement over the earth’ the artist continued, ‘is the sliding of the iron rudders of the sleds.’ Dating back to his keen interest in botany and zoology throughout his childhood, this closeness to the natural world would be a crucial aspect of Beuys’ artistic process, culminating in 7000 Eichen (7000 Oaks), where the artist planted 7000 trees during documenta 7 in Kassel, Germany. In 1979, Beuys’ candidature for the European Parliament also helped raise concern over the environment and industrialisation.
Due to its small size and its connotations with free movement, as well as the imagined story behind it, Sled is also reminiscent of childhood. Indeed, within the popular imagination, the object has long been associated with infancy; famously, this link was explored in Orson Welles’ ground-breaking movie Citizen Kane (1941), where the titular character sees himself as a boy with his sled, ‘Rosebud’, moments before passing away. Like a once beloved childhood toy which was lost but finally rediscovered, Sled reveals, through a universally recognisable emotive quality, the essential yearning for freedom, adventure, and fantastic recollections.
Literature
Jörg Schellmann 12
Property from an Important American Collection
15
Schlitten (Sled) (S. 12)
1969
Wooden sled, felt, belts, flashlight, fat, and oil paint (Browncross).
91.4 x 43.2 x 34.3 cm (36 x 17 x 13 1/2 in.)
Stamp-numbered '04' on a plaque affixed to the sled, from the edition of 50 (there were also 5 hors commerce copies), published by Galerie René Block, Berlin.
Estimate
£80,000 - 120,000 Ω♠
Sold for £132,300
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BEUYS 100
London Auction 14 June 2021
1
Joseph Beuys
Capri-Batterie (Capri Battery) (S. 546)
Estimate £10,000 - 15,000 Ω♠
Sold for £16,380
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2
Joseph Beuys
Sonne statt Reagan (Sun Instead of Reagan) (S. 447)
Estimate £2,000 - 3,000 ‡♠
Sold for £2,520
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3
Joseph Beuys
Ja Ja Ja Ja Ja, Nee Nee Nee Nee Nee (Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes, No No No No No) (S. 13)
Estimate £300 - 500 Ω♠
Sold for £693
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4
Joseph Beuys
Celtic Kinloch Rannoch (S. 334)
Estimate £1,000 - 1,500 ♠
Sold for £1,008
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5No Reserve
Joseph Beuys
DDR-Tüte (Guten Einkauf) (GDR Paper Bag) (S. 324)
Estimate £1,000 - 1,500 •‡♠
Sold for £1,260
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6
Joseph Beuys
Holzpostkarte (Wood Postcard); and Filzpostkarte (Felt Postcard) (S. 104, 539)
Estimate £600 - 800 ‡♠
Sold for £630
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7
Joseph Beuys
Wirtschaftswert Signiertusche (Economic Value Signature Ink) (S. 469)
Estimate £1,500 - 2,000 ♠
Sold for £2,016
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8
Joseph Beuys
DM 90,000 (S. 463)
Estimate £2,500 - 3,500 ‡♠
Sold for £3,276
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9
Joseph Beuys
L'Arte è una zanzara dalle mille ali (Art is a thousand-winged mosquito) (S. 395-398)
Estimate £1,500 - 2,000 ‡♠
Sold for £3,276
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10
Joseph Beuys
Painting Version 1-90 (S. 186)
Estimate £6,000 - 8,000 ♠†
Sold for £7,560
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11
Joseph Beuys
Cosmos und Damian Gebohnert (Cosmos and Damian Polished) (S. 156)
Estimate £800 - 1,200 ‡♠
Sold for £1,764
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12
Joseph Beuys
Kunst = Kapital (Art = Capital) (S. 367)
Estimate £8,000 - 12,000 ‡♠
Sold for £14,490
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13
Joseph Beuys
Mit Schwefel überzogene Zinkkiste (tamponierte Ecke) (Sulphur-Covered Zinc Box (Plugged Corner)) (S. 21)
Estimate £10,000 - 15,000 Ω♠
Sold for £10,080
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14
Joseph Beuys
Cuprum 0.3% unguentum metallicum praeparatum (S. 556)
Estimate £15,000 - 20,000 ♠†
Sold for £18,900
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15
Joseph Beuys
Schlitten (Sled) (S. 12)
Estimate £80,000 - 120,000 Ω♠
Sold for £132,300
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16
Joseph Beuys
Untitled
Estimate £40,000 - 60,000 ♠†
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17
Joseph Beuys
Untitled
Estimate £30,000 - 40,000 ‡♠
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18
Joseph Beuys
KRIEG! (WAR!)
Estimate £20,000 - 30,000 ‡♠
Sold for £21,420
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19
Joseph Beuys
Blindwühlmaus (Blind Vole)
Estimate £12,000 - 18,000 ‡♠
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20
Joseph Beuys
Freedom for James Boyle
Estimate £15,000 - 20,000 ‡♠
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21
Joseph Beuys
Untitled
Estimate £10,000 - 15,000 ‡♠
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22
This lot is no longer available.
23
Joseph Beuys
Untitled (Braunkreuz; Belfast Space; and Take from Every Pile)
Estimate £12,000 - 18,000 ‡♠
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24
Joseph Beuys
Paß für den Eintritt in die Zukunft (Passport for Entry into the Future) (S. 126)
Estimate £1,000 - 1,500 ♠
Sold for £1,260
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25No Reserve
Joseph Beuys and John Cage
Orwell Print (S. 500)
Estimate £800 - 1,200 •‡♠
Sold for £1,638
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26
Joseph Beuys
Sandzeichnugen (Sand Drawings) (S. 272-283)
Estimate £1,500 - 2,000 ‡♠
Sold for £1,512
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27
Joseph Beuys
Zeichnungen für Codices Madrid von Leonardo da Vinci (Drawings for Codices Madrid by Leonardo Da Vinci) (S. 165-185)
Estimate £1,000 - 1,500 ‡♠
Sold for £1,008
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28
Joseph Beuys
Verde di rabbia (Green with Anger) (S. 365)
Estimate £3,000 - 5,000 ‡♠
Sold for £3,024
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29
Joseph Beuys
Demokratie Ist Lustig (Democracy is Merry) (S. 68)
Estimate £2,000 - 3,000 ‡♠
Sold for £5,040
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30No Reserve
Joseph Beuys
Vino F.I.U (S. 484)
Estimate £1,000 - 1,500 Ω•♠
Sold for £882
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31
Joseph Beuys
Free International University (Kunst = Kapital) (Art = Capital)
Estimate £1,000 - 1,200 ‡♠
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32
Joseph Beuys
Main Stream (S. 70B)
Estimate £400 - 600 ‡♠
Sold for £1,260
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33
Joseph Beuys
Beuys/Rosebery/Fuller (S. 366)
Estimate £1,000 - 1,500 ♠
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34
Joseph Beuys
Aus dem Eurasienstab (From Eurasia Staff) (S. 75)
Estimate £1,000 - 1,500 ‡♠
Sold for £1,890
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35
Joseph Beuys
Yellow (S. 205)
Estimate £800 - 1,200 ‡♠
Sold for £2,898
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36
Joseph Beuys
BRYONIA
Estimate £8,000 - 12,000 ‡♠
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37
Joseph Beuys
Aus Künstlerpost (from Artist's Mail) (S. 15)
Estimate £3,000 - 5,000 ‡♠
Sold for £3,780
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38
Joseph Beuys
Food for Thought (S. 206)
Estimate £1,000 - 1,500 ♠
Sold for £1,638
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39
Joseph Beuys
Auguren (Augurs) (S. 443)
Estimate £400 - 600 ‡♠
Sold for £882
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40
Joseph Beuys
La Jambe d'Orwell: Pantalons pour le 21e siècle (The Orwell Leg: Trousers for the 21st Century) (S. 485)
Estimate £10,000 - 15,000 ‡♠
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41
Joseph Beuys
Levitazione in Italia (Levitation In Italy) (S. 247)
Estimate £1,000 - 1,500 ‡♠
Sold for £756
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42
Joseph Beuys
Vitex Agnus Castus (S. 73)
Estimate £200 - 300 ‡♠
Sold for £441
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43
Joseph Beuys
Packbild 3 II (Picture Pack 3 II)
Estimate £12,000 - 18,000 ‡♠
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44
Joseph Beuys
Klangkörper Tonsäule (Sound Box Tonal Column)
Estimate £8,000 - 12,000 ‡♠
Sold for £13,860
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45
Joseph Beuys
2 Schafe (2 Sheep)
Estimate £8,000 - 12,000 ‡♠
Sold for £15,120
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46
Joseph Beuys
Untitled
Estimate £3,000 - 5,000 ‡♠
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47
Joseph Beuys
Surrender II (S. 102B)
Estimate £300 - 500 ‡♠
Sold for £756
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48
Joseph Beuys
Untitled, from Homage á Picasso (S. 84)
Estimate £1,000 - 1,500 ‡♠
Sold for £1,764
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49
Joseph Beuys
Meerengel zwei Robben (Sea Angel Two Seals), from Zirkulationszeitsuite (Suite Circulation Time) (S. 429)
Estimate £600 - 800 ‡♠
Sold for £693
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50
Joseph Beuys
Gletscher schwamm totenbett (Glacier Sponge Deathbed) (S. 308-309)
Estimate £1,000 - 1,500 ‡♠
Sold for £1,260
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51
Joseph Beuys
Besser heute aktiv (Better Active Today) (S. 60)
Estimate £200 - 300 ‡♠
Sold for £819
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52No Reserve
Joseph Beuys
3 Tonnen Edition (3 Ton Edition) (S. 74)
Estimate £1,000 - 1,500 •‡♠
Sold for £2,142
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53
Joseph Beuys
Im Kopf und im Topf (In Head and in Pot) (S. 268)
Estimate £300 - 500 ‡♠
Sold for £567
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54
Joseph Beuys
Bitterfelder Telegramm (Bitterfeld Telegram) (S. 297)
Estimate £500 - 700 ‡♠
Sold for £1,638
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55
Joseph Beuys
A.E.I.O.U, Difesa della natura (Defence of Nature) (S. 481)
Estimate £1,000 - 1,500 ‡♠
Sold for £3,528
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56
Joseph Beuys
Joseph Beuys: Vitrines–Forms of the Sixties; Joseph Beuys: dernier espace avec introspecteur 1964-1982; Joseph Beuys: Stripes from the House of Shaman; and Joseph Beuys: Plight
Estimate £3,000 - 4,000 ♠†
Sold for £5,670
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57
Joseph Beuys
Postkarten (Postcards) 1968-1974 (see S. P1-68)
Estimate £400 - 600 Ω♠
Sold for £630
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58
Joseph Beuys
The Archives: The Art Information Centre Peter Van Beveren (S. 382)
Estimate £600 - 800 ‡♠
Sold for £756
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59No Reserve
Joseph Beuys
Joseph Beuys: dernier espace avec introspecteur 1964-1982: two books
Estimate £250 - 350 •♠
Sold for £126
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60No Reserve
Joseph Beuys
Joseph Beuys: Drawings
Estimate £400 - 600 •♠
Sold for £252
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61
Alastair Thain
Joseph Beuys
Estimate £800 - 1,200 ♠†
Sold for £5,292
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