Leipzig 1884 - 1950 New York
Avant-garde
Germany, Austria and South Tyrol
500,000 – 3,000,000 USD +
Max Beckmann is a key exponent of Expressionism and the Neue Sachlichkeit, also known as the New Objectivity.
The human condition is the central subject of Beckmann’s works, always approached with an intensity which gives them an emotional universality. He had a profound understanding of art history, greatly admiring and studying old master paintings. Beckmann is best known for his large allegorical works but also produced an exceptional body of portraits, still-lifes and landscapes.
Shortly after his formal training at the Kunstschule in Leipzig (1900–03), Beckmann embarked on a short educational sojourn in Paris sponsored by the eminent art historian Julius Meier-Graefe (1867–1935). His encounters with great Parisian collections had a lasting influence, visible in works such as Young Men by the Sea (1905) which was influenced by the unlikely combination of Paul Cézanne (1839–1906), Luca Signorelli (1450–1523) and Hans von Marées (1837–87). Beckmann’s time as a combat medic in the First World War led to a radical shift in style. The need to express the horrors of his experiences led to greater introspection and an experimentation with Expressionism. He looked to German and Flemish medieval religious imagery to translate his suffering into a modern painterly idiom, which led to works such as Descent from the Cross (1917). After the war Beckmann became a key figure in the avant-garde’s shift towards a classicising realism. He was included in the very first exhibition devoted to ‘New Objectivity’ at the Kunsthalle Mannheim in 1925 together with George Grosz (1893–1959) and Otto Dix (1891–1969). The movement advocated realism and social critique as an antidote to the corruption of the Weimar Republic.
Further reading
Tobias G. Natter, ed., The Self-Portrait: From Schiele to Beckmann, exh. cat. New York, 2019.
Tomás Llorens Serra, Beckmann: Figures in Exhile, exh cat. Madrid, 2018.
Sabine Rewald, Max Beckmann in New York, exh. cat. New York, 2016.
Lynette Roth, Max Beckmann at the St Louis Art Museum: The Paintings, New York, 2015.
Bernhard M. Bürgi and Nina Peter (ed.), Max Beckmann: The Landscapes, exh. cat. Berlin, 2011.
Jutta Schütt, ed., Beckmann & America, exh. cat. Frankfurt, 2011.
Sean Rainbird, Max Beckmann, exh. cat. London, 2003.
Tobia Bezzola, Cornelia Homburg, Max Beckmann and Paris: Matisse, Picasso, Braque, Léger, Rouault, exh. cat. St Louis, 1998.
Carla Schulz-Hoffmann, Judith C. Weiss eds., Max Beckmann: Retrospective, exh. cat. Munich, 1984.
Notable exhibitions
New York, Neue Galerie, The Self-Portrait, from Schiele to Beckmann, 28 February – 24 June 2019. Curated by Tobias G. Natter.
Bremen, Kunsthalle Bremen, Max Beckmann: The World as a Stage, 30 September 2017 – 4 February 2018; travelled to Potsdam, Museum Barberini, 24 February – 10 June 2018.
Paris, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Max Beckmann, 10 September 2002 – 6 January 2003; travelled to London, Tate Modern, 13 February – 5 May 2003; New York, Museum of Modern Art, 26 June – 29 September 2003. Curated by Robert Storr, Didier Ottinger, and Sean Rainbird.
Munich, Haus der Kunst, Max Beckmann: Retrospective, February 25 – April 23, 1984; travelled to Berlin, Nationalgalerie, May 18 – July 29, 1984; Saint Louis, The Saint Louis Art Museum, September 7 – November 4, 1984; and Los Angelees, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, December 9, 1984 – February 3, 1985. Curated by Carla Schulz-Hoffmann and Judith C. Weiss.