The German artist Joseph Beuys (1921-1986) communicated intense emotion in his art using a wide variety of media in drawings, sculpture, and performances.

Joseph Beuys was born May 12, 1921, in Krefeld on the German/Dutch border near his parents' home in Cleves. The family moved from here to the nearby Rindern where his father and uncle owned a flour and fodder business in 1930. The geography of this border region of the lower Rhine valley left a permanent impression. Childhood memories of the common local wildlife--hare, stag, and swans--were to take on significant meanings in his mature art. As a child Beuys was fascinated with the role of the shepherd and carried around a large staff. Above all, an interest in science and the feeling of daily life in this particular geographic and historical setting formed the foundation of his artistic imagery. Beuys was educated in local schools with a...