For Beuys, ‘sculpture is not fixed or finished’, and he aimed to produce a new kind of mutable object that would ‘provoke thoughts about what sculpture can be and how the concept of sculpting can be extended’. The wax cast Junges Pferdchen (Young Horse, 1955–86), inspired by Rembrandt’s Polish Rider (1655), remained in his studio and was modified by the artist over the years. The wax model formed the basis for a plaster mould, likely with the aim of creating a metal cast, but this next step remained unrealised and Beuys later opened the mould to create the sculpture. While horses often featured in his drawings, Young Horse is a rare sculptural treatment of the subject. As Beuys explained in 1974, ‘the horse, the swan and the hare constantly come and go: figures which pass freely from one level of existence to another, which represent the incarnation of the soul or the earthly form of spiritual beings with access to other regions’. By virtue of this flexibility, non-human species could inspire humanity in its efforts to overcome materialism, a process that he sought to foster with his art. These ideas are also evident in the drawings on display, which depict a menagerie of animals including horses, deer, dogs and goats, sometimes in combination with human figures.

The exhibition season has been made possible thanks to Assicurazioni Generali, the Palazzo Cini Gallery’s main partner since it reopened in 2014 and a longstanding patron of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini. The collaboration is the result of a fruitful, enduring relationship stemming from a shared commitment to making culture accessible and enjoyable.