Max Beckman Art

B. 1884-1950 - At the outbreak of the First World War Max Beckmann volunteered and served in East Prussia and Flanders. Discharged in 1915, Beckmann moved to Frankfurt am Main where he taught at the Städelschule until 1933. With the success of the National Socialists the artist was increasingly defamed and finally dismissed from his teaching post. His works were removed from public collections in Germany. Political pressure forced him to emigrate to Holland in 1937. Here he was also restricted by the political situation.

He recieved an invitation to Saint Louis, as a guest professor in 1947. This was a welcome occasion to emigrate to the USA. This post at the Washington University School of Fine Arts was followed by teaching posts at the University of Colorado in Boulder in 1949, the Brooklyn Museum Art School in New York and Mills College in Oakland, California in the summer of 1950. Max Beckman died on 27 December 1950 in New York.

Beckmann's early style is influenced by German Impressionism, particularly by Lovis Corinth. His experiences during the war led to a more Expressionist style close to the 'Neue Sachlichkeit'. Beginning in the 1920s, the individualism of his style expressed itself in his intense occupation with the object world, which is reflected in an expressive, graphic structure. Beckmann's prevailing subject was the lonely, threatened man in an apocalyptic world. In his late work this view culminates in large symbolical and mythological triptychs. Max Beckmann was awarded the Carnegie Prize (1929), the first prize at the international 'Golden Gate' exhibition (1939) and the Conte-Volpi Prize at the XXV. Biennale in Venice (1950) as well as an honorary doctorate by Washington University in St. Louis.