In this 1979 publication, medical historian and art collector Axel Hinrich Murken presents us with a specialized yet comprehensive study of Beuys’ works from the perspective of the artist’s use of medicine, replete with color and monochrome images and text in English and German. Focusing on Beuys’ recurrent employment of medicinal herbs, medicaments, drugs, and medical waste products, this book relates Beuys’ modus operandi to the Renaissance magician-doctor Paracelsus, the founder of homeopathy Hahnemann, Romantic poets and painters, philosophers, scientists, shamans, biblical figures, and many more.

In doing so, this volume gives insight into why Beuys was characterized variously, as Murken himself states, as “art professor, clown, felt magician, shaman, garbage arranger, magician, gangster, great mogul or oracle of Dusseldorf.” With photos of Beuys’ artworks spanning the years 1946-1979, quotes and writings from the artist, and even a 1973 interview with Beuys himself, Joseph Beuys und die Medizin offers thorough background information for and readings of this seminal artist’s collected works. By supplementing individual biography, from early childhood through professional artistic career, with scientific, artistic, and medicinal histories, this bilingual hardback equips readers with an extensive understanding of Beuys’ oeuvre and influences.