A student of Joseph Beuys, he primarily used wood, iron and stone as materials.

His monumental sculptures were presented at the documenta in Kassel several times, and at the Nationalgalerie in Berlin, among others.

During World War II, he and his family escaped to the Rhineland, where he first was a blacksmith, then a policeman.

Red and green signals, operated by Anatol from a corner of the room, directed each sitter as to when they could speak.

Beuys stood in the opposite corner of the room, silently making different gestures.

[12] In 1996, he was appointed honorary professor of fine arts by the University of South Dakota in Vermillion.