All the works are subsequent to his enrolment at the Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Arts, at the age of 25.The exhibition centres on a series of five wall-sculptures referring to the iconography of the cross, showing a synthesis of Christian and pagan motifs typical of Beuys' work, three primitivistic, idol-like female figures, and the bronze Hirschkuh mit Jungem [doe with calf] (1948) which, like all these works, highlights motifs which were to become essential in Beuys' œuvre in subsequent decades. The Salzburg exhibition offers a rare opportunity to study the formative early years of one of the most influential artists of the latter half of the 20th century.