December 27, 1950

According to the Museum of Modern Art Max Beckmann (February 12, 1884 to December 27, 1950) "was one of the most important German painters of the 20th century." The Nazis had fired him from his job at the Art Museum of Frankfort, stripped the German museums of his paintings, and labeled his art as degenerate. Before and after this period of German vicious state belligerence Beckmann was been held in high regard.

In fact, one of the men charged by Goebbels with selling seized art to raise money for the Germans, Hildebrand Gurlitt, secretly stashed away a vast trove of art, including Beckmann's. This story only recently come to light after an accidental encounter and it turns out Hildebrand Gurlitt's 1945 interview with the "Monuments Men" wherein he insisted all the art he knew of was destroyed by the Allied bombing of Dresden, was the least bizarre of a 20th century odyssey which is still unraveling. For now the relevant part of the story is that some of Beckmann's art, thought destroyed, was not. The German authorities have still have not traced the people or heirs, from whom Beckmann's art was stolen.

The painting below, is NOT one of those the Nazis seized. It was in fact painted in America.(1949).



Beckmann is noted for his philosophical sophistication. I would like to know more about this painting. Max Beckmann died in New York City, falling over on a Manhattan street, in sight of Central Park, of a heart attack. 

February 12 1884

Max Beckmann (February 12, 1884 to December 27, 1950) saw his painting as a means of exploring reality. His philosophical sophistication and dedication to truth give him a prominence in the world of artists. He had tried to stay in Germany even after losing his job when the German Nazis took over, But when the infamous degenerate art (Entartete Kunst) show opened in Munich on June 26, 1937, he went into exile in Amsterdam. One source says:

Among the 730 controversial works gathered there by the Nazi curators were ten paintings by Beckmann, including his 1917 self-portrait. There were more works by Beckmann in the show than by any other living artist.

This statement of Beckmann's points to how he connected painting and struggling to grasp the reality of which he was a part:  Space, and space again, is the infinite deity which surrounds us and in which we are ourselves contained.

And most provocatively: I am seeking for the bridge which leans from the visible to the invisible through reality.  This statement by Beckmann could be a credo for all intent on seeing for themselves.

And yet no artist could misunderstand this quote: Really I only wanted to paint beautiful pictures:

The above is titled Stilleben mit roten Rosen und Butchy, (1942)