| |
Max Beckmann
1884-1950
Max Beckmann is generally considered the greatest of the second generation of Expressionists who came of age in the period between the two world wars. Many of these artists had endured horrific experiences on the battlefields during the First World War, and this led them to embrace the nihilism of Dada, political satire and eventually the edgy neo-realism known as Neue Sachlichkeit. Although Beckmann, too, was emotionally scarred by World War I, he remained truer than many of his contemporaries to the tactile brushwork and expressive palette of the earlier Expressionists. Beckmann's work encompasses a broad array of subject matter, from social commentary, conventional portraits and still lifes to monumental (and often obscure) allegories.
Born in Leipzig, Beckmann began his formal art training at sixteen at the Weimar Art School and then studied in Paris and Florence. He returned to Berlin, where he made contact with the art dealer Paul Cassirer in 1907, became the youngest member of the Berlin Secession's governing body in 1910, and received a contract to publish his graphic works in 1911. By 1913 he had had his first solo show at Paul Cassirer's gallery, and the first monograph of his work had been published; respected critics praised his work.
In 1915, Beckmann enlisted as a medical orderly in the German army, and the misery and slaughter that he witnessed on the Front caused him to undergo a nervous breakdown. His military experience changed his artistic style completely: the romantic technique of the prewar years gave way to a style that employed angular forms and flat colors. His new works were displayed for the first time in 1919 and received an exceptionally positive reception.
Beckmann reached the height of his popularity from 1924 to 1930, during the Weimar era. At this time a second monograph of his work was compiled, the dealer I.B. Neumann signed him to a three-year contract with a guaranteed income, he was employed as a master teacher at the Städelschule in Frankfurt, an entire room of the Kronprinzenpalais in Berlin was dedicated to his work, and in 1930 he was chosen to represent Germany at the Venice Biennale. His bleak figures captured the imagination of a depressed nation.
Beckman felt the effects of National Socialism as soon as Hitler came to power in 1933. He was immediately dismissed from his post at the Städelschule and was vilified by the Nazis as a despised "degenerate" artist. His works were placed in the first room of the "Degenerate Art" exhibition of 1937. The day of the show's opening, he and his wife fled to Amsterdam, where he lived out the war. Beckmann emigrated to the United States in 1947 and took teaching positions in St. Louis and then in Brooklyn. He died in 1950 of a heart attack.
1884
12th of February: Max Beckmann is born as the son to an estate agent and flour dealer.
1900-1903
Studies at the Großherzogliche Kunstschule in Weimar.
1903/04
Study trip to Paris, where Beckmann gets to know artworks from the late gothic age as well as paintings by Paul Cézanne and Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890).
1905
Moves to Berlin, where he becomes a member of the "Berliner Secession".
1906
Beckmann get the Villa-Romana-Prize, which includes a scholarship in Florence. Exhibiting at the Berlin with other artists of the Berlin Secession.
Marries the painter Minna Tube.
1910
Beckmann becomes the youngest board meber of the Secession.
1913
Paul Cassirer organizes the first retrospective of 47 paintings by Beckmann.
Leaves the Berlin Secession to affiliate with the "Freie Secession" (free Secession).
1914
At the beginning of the first world war Beckmann becomes a volunteer in the medical service in Flandern (Netherlands). Beckmann works up the impressions of the war in several drawings and etchings.
1915
After a psychologycal breakdown he get expelled from the medical and military service. Beckmann stays in Frankfurt.
1917
The impressions of war lead to a simpler but at the same time more sociocritic and expressive style.
1919
Declines from a vocation to the Weimarer Kunstschule (later known as the Bauhaus in Weimar).
1925
Takes over the masters studio at the Städel-Kunstgewerbeschule in Frankfurt.
Divorces from Minna Tube.
Marriage with Mathilde von Kaulbach.
1929
Gets nominated as a professor in Frankfurt.
1929-1932
During these years Beckmann used to move to Paris in the autumn, winter and spring (September to May).
1931
Beckmann is more and more criticized and attacked by the national socialists.
1932/33
A new period in his oeuvre is initiated by the first of nine monumental triptychs.
From now on Beckmanns paintings more and more emphasize on his interpretation of the political surrounding.
1933
Gets expelled as a professor in Fraknfurt.
1937
The national socialists defame Beckmann as a "degennerate artist" and confiscate 509 of his works from german museums.
Together with his wife he migrates to Paris and later on to Amsterdam.
1940
After german troups were marching in in the Netherlands Beckmann burns his diaries kept since 1925.
1947
Migrates to the United States, where he works as a guest professor at the Washington University Art School in St. Louis.
1948
Comprehensive retrospective of his paintings at the City Art Museum in St. Louis, which was shown in museums in Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Cambridge/Massachusetts later on.
1949
Beckmann teaches at the Brooklyn Museum Art School (New York).
1950
27th of December: Max Beckmann dies in New York.
works by Max Beckmann
If you would like to receive further information or if you need images, please do not hesitate to contact the gallery.
Please send requests via email to:
mail@ludorff.com
back to top
|
| |
