Max Beckmann
German painter who defied categorization and confronted the horrors of the 20th century.
Hans Möller · via Wikipedia: Max Beckmann · PD-US
He rejected the Expressionist label and was associated with the New Objectivity movement in the 1920s.[1] Works with lighter themes, for instance those depicting circus performers, frequently contained a moody or uneasy undercurrent.[2]
Quick Facts
- Birth name
- Max Carl Friedrich Beckmann
- Born
- 12 February 1884
- Birthplace
- Leipzig, German Empire
- Died
- 27 December 1950
- Place of death
- New York City, U.S.
- Field
- Painting
- Sculpture
- Drawing
- Printmaking
- Movement
- New Objectivity; Expressionism
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
His traumatic experiences as a medical orderly in World War I led to a dramatic transformation of his style and a subsequent nervous breakdown.[3] The Nazi government dismissed him from his teaching position in 1933, calling him a "cultural Bolshevik."[4] Beckmann's birthplace was Leipzig, Saxony, where he was raised in a middle-class household.[5] A master class teaching position at Frankfurt's Städelschule Academy of Fine Art was given to Beckmann in 1925.[6]
Following Hitler's 1937 radio address concerning degenerate art, Beckmann departed Germany for the Netherlands accompanied by his second wife, Quappi.[4] Amsterdam became Beckmann's home for a decade of self-imposed exile, during which he was unable to secure a US visa.[7] Beckmann died from a heart attack in New York City in December 1950, near his apartment at 38 West 69th Street.[8][9]
What the cited sources add
A 2026 Jacobin article notes that Beckmann claimed he "never busied himself with barricades."[10] The same source states that Beckmann was not a formal innovator, despite his renowned prints.[10] A Spaightwood galleries account explains that Beckmann's artistic life was shaped by horrors he witnessed as a soldier in World War I.[11] That account adds that Beckmann was more interested in recurring manifestations of age-old vices than in the specific signs of Germany's nightmare.[11]
The Spaightwood source confirms that after the Nazis took power, Beckmann was fired from his professorship in Frankfurt.[11]
References
- Wikipedia, "Max Beckmann" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Max Beckmann (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Max Beckmann" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Norwich, "Oxford illustrated encyclopedia", Oxford University Press, 1985–1993, p. 41 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Max Beckmann" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Schulz-Hoffmann and Weiss 1984, p. 69.; Landin, "Max Beckmann, an Unintentionally Political Artist", Jacobin, 2026-02-22 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Max Beckmann" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Beckmann", Spaightwood galleries; "Max Beckmann. (German, 1884-1950)", The Museum of Modern Art; Landin, "Max Beckmann, an Unintentionally Political Artist", Jacobin, 2026-02-22; Rainbird 2003, p. 274.; Michael Kimmelman (June 27, 2003), "Chuckling Darkly at Disaster", The New York Times. (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Max Beckmann" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Landin, "Max Beckmann, an Unintentionally Political Artist", Jacobin, 2026-02-22 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Max Beckmann" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rainbird 2003, p. 272.; "Max Beckmann. (German, 1884-1950)", The Museum of Modern Art (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Max Beckmann" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Max Beckmann. (German, 1884-1950)", The Museum of Modern Art (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Max Beckmann" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Michael Kimmelman (June 27, 2003), "Chuckling Darkly at Disaster", The New York Times.; "Max Beckmann. (German, 1884-1950)", The Museum of Modern Art (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Max Beckmann" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Max Beckman, 66, Noted Artist, Dies". December 28, 1950. New York Times. "Max Beckmann ... died yesterday of a heart attack near his home, 38 We; Rainbird 2003, p. 283.; "Max Beckmann. (German, 1884-1950)", The Museum of Modern Art; Klein, "Art on the Eve of Destruction", PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, 2003, p. 20–25; ""Max Beckmann in New York," Metropolitan Museum of Art, through February 20, 2017 :: AEQAI" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Landin, "Max Beckmann, an Unintentionally Political Artist", Jacobin, 2026-02-22. facts only, no text reused. jacobin.com
- "Beckmann", Spaightwood galleries. facts only, no text reused. spaightwoodgalleries.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Max Beckmann (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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