Max Beckmann
Born – Leipzig, Germany 1884
Died – New York City, USA 1950
An outsider who never subscribed to any particular school, Max Beckmann is nevertheless regarded as one of this century’s greatest figurative painters. During his service in the First World War, Beckmann suffered a nervous breakdown. After being dismissed as a “degenerate artist” by the Nazis from a teaching post, Beckmann left Germany in 1937 to settle in Amsterdam. From this point on he resolved to put what he saw as the individual’s tragic fight against evil at the centre of his work. Initially he concentrated on graphics, producing a large number of prints and woodcuts, before reverting to paint. The artist’s hard-edged, expressionistic still lifes, portraits, landscapes and figure compositions draw upon everyday life as well as mythical scenes for inspiration. Beckmann’s metaphorical paintings with their claustrophobic interiors, mutilated figures, monstrous birds and fish are a critique of modern urban society and an attempt to find some spiritual meaning within it. Quappi with Parrot, a portrait of his second wife, Mathilde, was painted in the 1930s and shows characteristic strong modelling of form. In 1947 Beckmann moved to the United States where for the last three years of his life he experienced a new vitality and optimism.
Masterpieces:
- Portrait of Heinrich George and his Family
- The Theatre Box
Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.
Books About max beckmann
Max Beckmann
Susanne Bieber
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Self-Portrait in Words: Collected Writings and Statements, 1903-1950
Max Beckmann
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Max Beckmann and the Self (Pegasus Library)
Sister Wendy Beckett
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