Initiation Gauloise (Gallic Initiation), 1976

For this edition, Joseph Beuys overlays a Paris Métro map with symbols that refer to ancient Gallic initiation rituals, merging contemporary urban structure with archaic forms of knowledge and transformation. By inscribing these signs onto a system of navigation, Beuys connects everyday movement through the city with deeper mythological and spiritual passages. As in many of his multiples, the reduced visual gestures carry conceptual weight, pointing to themes central to his practice: ritual, activation, and the transition from one state of consciousness to another.

This work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Broad, Los Angeles; National Galleries of Scotland; and Bavarian State Painting Collections.