A Rolled Banner - Hare's Blood
Joseph Beuys
German, 1921–1986
1983
A wall-mounted sheet of lead stained with hare’s blood and set behind glass and a steel frame, made to turn heavy industrial material into a ritualized, memory-laden object that fuses sculpture, medicine, and myth.
At first glance it reads as a dark, matte rectangle with subtle fingered textures and a thin, lighter horizontal seam like a scar, the austere steel frame and pale backing making the piece feel both industrial and almost bodily.
One of Beuys’s emblematic works that advances his idea of ‘social sculpture,’ using alchemical and organic materials to argue that art can heal, carry personal and collective memory, and reshape political life.
Medium
Lead, hare's blood, glass, and steel
Dimensions
30 1/8 x 24 x 2 3/8" (76.5 x 61 x 6 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Werner and Elaine Dannheisser
Accession
166.1996
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
