Beuys, like Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol, precisely orchestrated his public image, building a personal myth that has the power to bind together his entire oeuvre. This book attempts to break through the mass of obscurantist writing about Joseph Beuys, to introduce him in a simple and clear manner through his individual drawings, used here as the basis for discussions of his life, art and ideas. Some employ such media as hare's blood or margarine, or are realized on envelopes, emphasizing their function as a reservoir of ideas for Beuy's sculpture, "actions", performance art and other enterprises.