Installation, cycle of six blackboards

Joseph Beuys
Chalk on varnished wood
1980

On the 3rd April 1980 a momentous event for the international art world took place in the Sala Cannoniera event space inside the Rocca Paolina Fortress in Perugia: a meeting-happening featuring Joseph Beuys and Alberto Burri. At that time restructuring work was being carried out on both the Paolina Fortress, where Burri’s Grande Nero can still be seen, and the neighbouring Palazzo della Penna, where Beuys’ Opera Unica Installation is now on display.

The historic meeting of the two artists took place as Perugia’s international art profile was ganing prominence and was curated by the town council, the art critic Italo Tomassoni and Lucio Amelio, a gallery owner. Burri inaugurated his Grande Ferro RP 80 sculpture (Now on view in the Fondazione Palazzo Albizzini Collezione Burri in Città di Castello). This was later replaced by the Grande Nero. During the happening Beuys presented an installation of six blackboards (later displayed with the title Opera Unica) which was purchased by the City of Perugia and displayed in the Sala del Grifo e del Leone at the Palazzo dei Priori prior to being transferred to the Civic Museum at Palazzo della Penna where it has been on display since 2003.

The artist used the six blackboards for a series of chalk drawings taking inspiration from the German tradition and interspersed with German words and phrases, including autobiographical themes and also figurative allusions to Italian and European traditions. In the video made of his performance on April 3rd 1980, which can be viewed in full as part of the permanent exhibition, Beuys expounds the complex theoretical content illustrated in sketch form on the blackboards; the notations summarize his artistic, sociological and political vision and touch on themes including human social organisation, the exploitation of resources, communication modes and the environment.