Graphite and oil paint on paper
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
ARTIST ROOMS
National Heritage Memorial Fund
Art Fund
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/joseph-beuys-747" aria-label="More by Joseph Beuys" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Joseph Beuys</a>
Witches Spitting Fire
ARTIST ROOMS
Acquired jointly with the National Galleries of Scotland through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund 2008
actions: postures and motions
adults
dress: fantasy/fancy
exotic
female
fire
kneeling
looking up
magic and occultism
natural phenomena
nudes
people
religion and belief
society
standing
witch
woman
paper unique graphite oil paint
4 July 2009 – 27 September 2009
2009-09-27
4 July 2009 – 27 September 2009
2009-09-27
2009-07-04
De La Warr Pavilion (Bexhill on Sea, UK)
http://www.dlwp.com/
2009-07-04
ARTIST ROOMS 2009: Joseph Beuys
Loan-out
1 April 2010 – 27 September 2010
2010-09-27
1 April 2010 – 27 September 2010
2010-09-27
2010-04-01
Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery (Glasgow, UK)
http://www.hunterian.gla.ac.uk
2010-04-01
ARTIST ROOMS 2010: Joseph Beuys
Loan-out
27 July 2013 – 11 January 2015
2015-01-11
27 July 2013 – 3 November 2013
2013-11-03
2013-07-27
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Edinburgh, UK)
http://www.nationalgalleries.org/
2013-07-27
Witches and Wicked Bodies
Loan-out
5 June 2015 – 6 September 2015
2015-09-06
5 June 2015 – 6 September 2015
2015-09-06
2015-06-05
Timespan (Sutherland, UK)
http://www.timespan.org.uk/
2015-06-05
ARTIST ROOMS 2015: Joseph Beuys
Loan-out
Witches Spitting Fire
support: 207 × 297 mm
frame: 670 × 540 mm
<a href="/search?gid=999999788" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">ARTIST ROOMS</a>
Acquired jointly with the National Galleries of Scotland through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the <a href="/search?gid=999999967" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">National Heritage Memorial Fund</a> and the <a href="/search?gid=999999968" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Art Fund</a> 2008
<p>Witches are often seen in German art of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The interest in witches at that time was linked to the larger issue of society's attempt to understand women's bodies and their fertility, a subject which still concerns the artist in this 1959 drawing. Although these images from traditional German art would have been known to Beuys, his presentation of women as witches also refers to his own particular fascination with ancient and mysterious characters. Shown against a background suggestive of flames, Beuys's depiction of these two figures as fearsome and powerful shows his respect for a world where primitive, spiritual powers take precedent.</p>

Online caption
2009-04-16T00:00:00
online-caption
ONLINE_CAPTION
actions: postures and motions adults dress: fantasy/fancy exotic female fire kneeling looking up magic and occultism natural phenomena nudes people religion and belief society standing witch woman