Max Beckmann

Max Beckmann, (b. February 12, 1884 in Leipzig, Germany, d. December 28, 1950 in New York City), was a German painter, draftsman, graphic artist, sculptor, writer and thinker.

Life and Times

From its onset in the fin de siècle up to its completion after World War II, Beckmann's work reflects an entire era of catastrophes, revolutions and radical changes in both art and history.

Related Topics:
Fin de siècle - World War II

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From his early years, the son of a middle-class of Lower Saxon family origin tried to compete with the old masters. Struck by the experience of the war, he radically reduced his style, trying to find a new, honest and passionate image of himself and the human being. No one besides Rembrandt and Picasso completed so many self-portraits. Beckmann was always in search of a Self. Well-read in philosophy and literature, he also contemplated mysticism and theosophy. As a true painter-thinker, he tried to visualize the hidden spiritual worlds in every subject.

Related Topics:
Lower Saxon - Rembrandt - Picasso - Self-portrait - Self - Mysticism - Theosophy

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In the Twenties, Max Beckmann was officially honored by the Weimar Republic and considered one of the most eminent German artists. In 1933, the Nazi government fired him from his teaching position at the Art School in Frankfurt and showed some of his works in the notorious 1937 Degenerate Art exhibition. For ten years, Beckmann chose Amsterdam as a place of exile, desperately trying to obtain a visa for the US. Ne¬vertheless, the works completed in his small Amsterdam studio were even more powerful and intense than the ones of his master years in Frankfurt. Above all, Beckmann reinvented the triptych and expanded this archetype of medieval painting into a looking glass of contemporary humanity.

Related Topics:
Weimar Republic - 1933 - Degenerate Art - Amsterdam - Triptych - Archetype - Medieval painting

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During the last three years of his life, Beckmann taught at the art schools of Washington University in St Louis and Brooklyn Museum. The artist suffered from angina pectoris and died after Christmas 1950, struck down by an apoplexy on 61st Street/Central Park West downtown Manhattan. His late works mirror the landscapes, skyscrapers and the populace of mid-century America. Many of the paintings are now displayed in American museums. Max Beckmann, a Northern German, exerted a profound influence on such American painters as Jackson Pollock and Philip Guston. Likewise, his sincere devotion to art, his example as a creator and teacher has impressed and inspired generations of artists, and it still impresses us today.

Related Topics:
Washington University - St Louis - Brooklyn Museum - Angina pectoris - 1950 - Apoplexy - 61st Street - Central Park West - Manhattan - Jackson Pollock - Philip Guston

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