Iphigenia/Titus Andronicus
- Date
- 1985
- made in
- Frankfurt am Main, Hessen state, Germany, Europe
- Classification
- Photographs
- Collection
- Prints, Drawings, and Photographs
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 28 x 21 1/4 x 2 in. (71.1 x 54 x 5.1 cm)
framed: 29 x 22 1/2 x 2 1/2 in. (73.7 x 57.2 x 6.4 cm) - Credit Line
- Gift of the Honorable and Mrs. Thomas F. Eagleton
- Rights
- © 2008 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
- Object Number
- 596:1998
NOTES
For this work Joseph Beuys joined a photographic transparency at top with a negative at the bottom. Sandwiched between two sheets of glass, the two images show Beuys in a 1969 performance in which he presented two plays simultaneously on a stage in Frankfurt. He chose to contrast William Shakespeare’s most violent tragedy, "Titus Andronicus," with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s idealistic approach to tragic theater, "Iphigenia in Tauris." The artist’s signature symbol of a brown cross ("Braunkreuz") bridges the two portions of the composition.
Provenance
- 1994
Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York, NY, USA [1]
1994 - 1998
The Honorable and Mrs. Thomas F. Eagleton, St. Louis, MO, USA [2]
1998 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, gift of the Honorable and Mrs. Thomas F. Eagleton [3]
Notes:
The main source of this provenance is a faxed memo dated May 31, 2005 sent by Senator Thomas Eagleton of St. Louis to Sydney Norton of the Saint Louis Art Museum [SLAM document files]. Other supporting documents are noted.
[1] See auction catalog ["Contemporary Art (Part II)." Christie's, New York, November 2, 1994, lot no. 127)].
[2] Senator Thomas Eagleton purchased the work at Christie's, New York on November 2, 1994. See note [1].
[3] Deed of Gift dated December 23, 1998 [SLAM document files]; Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, April 14, 1999.
Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York, NY, USA [1]
1994 - 1998
The Honorable and Mrs. Thomas F. Eagleton, St. Louis, MO, USA [2]
1998 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, gift of the Honorable and Mrs. Thomas F. Eagleton [3]
Notes:
The main source of this provenance is a faxed memo dated May 31, 2005 sent by Senator Thomas Eagleton of St. Louis to Sydney Norton of the Saint Louis Art Museum [SLAM document files]. Other supporting documents are noted.
[1] See auction catalog ["Contemporary Art (Part II)." Christie's, New York, November 2, 1994, lot no. 127)].
[2] Senator Thomas Eagleton purchased the work at Christie's, New York on November 2, 1994. See note [1].
[3] Deed of Gift dated December 23, 1998 [SLAM document files]; Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, April 14, 1999.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.