The Kunstmuseum Basel was one of the first major museums in Europe to exhibit and systematically acquire works by Joseph Beuys (1921-1986). The history of the significant Basel Beuys collection dates back to 1969. At that time, Dieter Koepplin organized the first Beuys exhibition, which received a great, albeit controversial, response. Koepplin, born in Basel in 1936 and director of the Cabinet of Prints and Drawings from 1966 to 1999, recognized early on the aesthetic and mental impact of the works by the then still highly controversial artist, and advocated for the acquisition of early works on paper. These formed the foundation of what would soon become an impressively extensive collection of sheets and sculptural works from all phases of the artist's career. With volume 4 of the Basel inventory catalog, which covers drawings, sculptural images, and multiples from 1955 onwards.