Joseph Beuys, S-2 Gallery

This exhibition of work by German artist Joseph Beuys inaugurates Sotheby’s new contemporary art exhibition space S|2 London, located in the heart of Mayfair. The venue primarily serves as a place to showcase art for sale – but its 5 yearly shows will offer an unparalleled opportunity to see rare, exotic pieces assembled by private collectors who aren’t normally known for putting their art on public display.

The opening is timed to coincide with the influential Frieze London art fair, when collectors from allover the world will be in London and – Sotheby’s hopes – opening their wallets.

Beuys, part of the Fluxus art movement – a mixed-media and multidisciplinary “anti-commercial” network born in New York in the 1960s – is known mainly for his sculptures and performances, and the centre piece of this exhibition is without doubt the bronze cast ‘Bett’ (conceived 1950), depicting a stylised female torso in a wooden G-clamp. Accompanying it are 12 of his pencil drawings, a rare treat from Beuys’ early career (1947 to 1966), including a pencil “rocking horse” completed during his training at the Dusseldorf Academy of Fine Arts. 

Price tags vary from £70,000-£200,000, a stretch for an ordinary punter, but a much cheaper buy compared to the auction house’s usual multi-million pound top lots. Whether you’ve an eye to buy or not, it’s well worth an afternoon checking out the art here and staking out this influential new venue on the capital’s art map.