The German artist Joseph Beuys, who died in 1986, at 64, was always at the forefront of the avant-garde. An influential theorist, he was driven by the belief that “Every person is an artist,” meaning that every human being has a need to be creative. At the Dusseldorf Academy, his colleagues thought of him as an agitator and looked upon his radical ideas warily. Beuys brought spirituality to his liberal politics. Early in his career he studied Eurasia, and he often experimented with shamanism. He engaged with nature and conservation before it was a discussion in the public realm. Placing 400 works by Beuys on view, the Broad presents his practice as a model for environmental action. —Elena Clavarino