 |
Max Beckmann: Watercolors and PastelsMax Beckmann is one of the most important artists of the twentieth century.
Appreciation of his oeuvre, however, has only reached its present height since 1980, with retrospectives in New York, Zurich, and Paris kindling an astonishing new interest.
In addition to diverse painted works, including the famous nine triptychs, Beckmann made his name as a graphic artist.
In particular, his graphic cycles Berliner Reise (Berlin Journey, 1922) and Die Hölle (Hell, 1919) are seen today as essential artistic critiques of the Weimar Republic; the series Day and Dream, produced in America in 1946, sums up as if in a kaleidoscope a world of motifs from almost five decades of creativity.
A few outstanding examples of the watercolors and pastels have been exhibited in surveys of his work, so that works like Odysseus (1933) and Der Raub der Europa (The Rape of Europe, 1933) are as famous as his paintings.
Yet an assessment of Beckmann as a "painter on paper" has yet to be undertaken.
The works are scattered, often hidden away in private collections, or at least not accessible in concentrated groupings like the paintings [in the St. Louis Art Museum in Missouri or in the Neue Pinakothek in Munich.
more: Max Beckmann: Watercolors and Pastels
April 3, 2006 | Viewed 41,986 time(s)
|
|
