Joseph Beuys - Monument to Auschwitz

Joseph Beuys drew this work in 1959 on an envelope bearing on its left corner the seal of an international organization of Auschwitz survivors. Both characters look like shadows on the verge of disappearing. Death has his right arm round the girl's shoulder and his head close to hers. Surprisingly, the young girl looks as fleshless as him and stands in the same position. Is she already dead? Or a survivor of the Holocaust, as the seal on the envelope seems to indicate? Be that as it may, Beuys pushed the theme of Death and the maiden as far as possible. It's hard to imagine an artist could propose a more extreme interpretation.

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