The End of the Twentieth Century

Joseph Beuys's 'The End of the 20th Century' ('Das Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts', 1983–1985) is the German artist's last great installation — 21 massive basalt boulders scattered across the gallery floor. Each stone is pierced with a conical hole plugged with felt and clay, as if the mineral itself contained a waiting capsule of healing warmth. The primeval rocks, strewn like the debris of a future archaeology, stand for the ruined civilisation of the 20th century and for the transformative energy Beuys saw simmering beneath it. Installed permanently in the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, it distils his lifelong doctrine of 'social sculpture'.

Exhibition Venue

Hamburger Bahnhof

Berlin, Germany