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Walter Vogel — Joseph Beuys from his performance Die Aktion Wie man dem toten Hasen die Bilder erklärt (How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare)
Walter Vogel

Joseph Beuys from his performance Die Aktion Wie man dem toten Hasen die Bilder erklärt (How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare)

Walter Vogel's four gelatin silver prints, printed in 2004, document Joseph Beuys's iconic 1965 performance in which the artist, his head covered in honey and gold leaf, cradled a dead hare while moving through a gallery and murmuring explanations of the artworks on the walls. Vogel's photographs capture the haunting, ritualistic quality of Beuys's actions, preserving the mystical and philosophical dimensions of a performance witnessed by only a handful of onlookers through a gallery window. The series stands as a vital historical record of one of Fluxus and performance art's most celebrated and enigmatic works.

Medium
Four gelatin silver prints, printed 2004.

🔨 Auction Lot

A Constant Pursuit: Photographs from the Collection of Ed Cohen & Victoria Shaw

October 4, 2018

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About this work

Walter Vogel, Joseph Beuys from his performance Die Aktion Wie man dem toten Hasen die Bilder erklärt (How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare)

Walter Vogel's four gelatin silver prints, printed in 2004, document Joseph Beuys's iconic 1965 performance in which the artist, his head covered in honey and gold leaf, cradled a dead hare while moving through a gallery and murmuring explanations of the artworks on the walls. Vogel's photographs capture the haunting, ritualistic quality of Beuys's actions, preserving the mystical and philosophical dimensions of a performance witnessed by only a handful of onlookers through a gallery window. The series stands as a vital historical record of one of Fluxus and performance art's most celebrated and enigmatic works.

Medium
Four gelatin silver prints, printed 2004.
Seen at
Phillips, New York, London, Hong Kong

Related themes

20th-Century Art, Performance Art, German Photographer, Joseph Beuys, Male Artist, Post-War Art, Conceptual Art, Documentary Photography, Black and White Photography, Gelatin Silver Print, Contemporary Photography, Portrait Photography