Joseph Beuys Lehmbruck – Beuys. Everything is Sculpture

When Joseph Beuys was awarded the Wilhelm Lehmbruck Prize of the City of Duisburg in January 1986, a few days before his death, he surprised everyone present when, in a speech that has become legendary today, he thanked his “teacher” Wilhelm Lehmbruck. An illustration of one of Lehmbruck’s works triggered an initial spark in the young Beuys: “Everything is sculpture, this picture seemed to call out to me.”

Both artists, Lehmbruck as well as Beuys, were convinced that sculpture has the power not only to explain the world but to change it for the better. Lehmbruck and Beuys both believed that “everything is sculpture”. This is the motto of this exhibition dedicated to the artistic kinship between two of the most important artists of the 20th century.

An exhibition of the Lehmbruck Museum in cooperation with the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn. The exhibition is part of the anniversary year programme "beuys 2021. 100 years of joseph beuys", a project of the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in collaboration with Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf as sponsor. Its patron is Minister-President Armin Laschet.