Joseph Beuys in Memoriam 371 by Andy Warhol presents Beuys’ face emerging through overlapping fields of muted green, brown and gray camouflage. The crisp hat brim, sharp gaze, and softly shadowed features anchor the portrait beneath the patterned surface, creating a tension between concealment and recognition. Warhol’s palette feels cool and atmospheric, while the camouflage overlay gives the composition a striking, contemporary edge. This first impression sets the stage for the artwork’s deeper connection to Beuys’ legacy and Warhol’s late-career experimentation.
Origins and Context of Joseph Beuys in Memoriam 371
Joseph Beuys in Memoriam 371 is a screenprint from 1986, published three years after Warhol completed the Joseph Beuys complete portfolio. The work serves as a tribute to Joseph Beuys, the enormously influential German artist, theorist, and lecturer who reshaped the boundaries of postwar European art. Warhol created this print the same year Beuys died of heart failure in Düsseldorf. Although the two were not especially close, they shared a strong mutual respect. This becomes clear in Warhol’s multiple portraits of Beuys from 1980 and in Beuys’ occasional requests, such as the poster Warhol produced for Germany’s Green Party (Die Grünen). Moreover, both participated in the first documented transmission of artworks by fax machine in 1985, alongside Kaii Higashiyama.
Warhol, Beuys, and Their Shared Philosophy
Joseph Beuys in Memoriam 371 and other Beuys portraits stand out as surprising entries in Warhol’s practice. Their approaches could not have been more different. Warhol, at the forefront of Pop Art, pushed back against Abstract Expressionism by grounding his imagery in the physical and the photographed. Beuys, however, sought to expand art beyond material form, embracing performance and symbolic systems. Even so, both artists collapsed the distance between artist and audience. Beuys famously admitted anyone into his classes, which ultimately led to his dismissal from the Düsseldorf Academy. Warhol, in turn, believed that mass culture offered everyone a pathway to visibility—his concept of “15 minutes of fame” mirrored Beuys’ democratic approach to creativity.
Joseph Beuys in Memoriam 371 in Warhol’s Larger Body of Work
The format of this work is classic Warhol: a single portrait set against a striking background. Yet the camouflage pattern is unusual for him in 1986 and hints at developments soon to follow. One year later, Warhol released his final print series, Camouflage, which fully embraced this motif. In retrospect, Beuys appears here almost as an intermediary figure—an emblem of experimentation and artistic freedom. His calm expression rises through Warhol’s layered surface, suggesting a quiet foreshadowing of Warhol’s late-style abstraction.
Video: Joseph Beuys meets Andy Warhol (1979, Hans Mayer Gallery, Düsseldorf).
Video: How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare (1965, Galerie Schmela, Düsseldorf).
Photo credit: Warhol and Beuys, courtesy of Schellmannart.com.
