: A towering figure in Twentieth Century art, Max Beckmann was a
leading modernist artist who followed a distinctively
individualistic path in a prolific career that spanned 50 years.
While he never led a school nor spelled out a particular
stylistic approach, he had a profound impact on the art of his
era, and continues to influence artists to this day. An innovator
throughout his career, Beckmann constantly tested his work
against that of his contemporaries and continuously altered his
style and subject matter.
A naturalist and symbolist at the outset, he reacted sharply to
the horrors of World War I, denounced the degradation of German
society between the wars, railed against the excesses of Nazi
Germany, and infused his powerful art with a spiritualism and
respect for traditional aesthetic verities that set him apart
from others.
Perhaps best known today for his monumental triptychs, Beckmann
also created a large body of individual canvases, insightful
self-portraits and accomplished prints. His oeuvre is at once
histrionic, moving, enigmatic, memorable, challenging and
enduring.
This grand exhibition, showcasing all facets of Beckmann's art,
does justice to the complex and appealing work of a man
The New York Times art critic Michael Kimmelman
called (in 1992) "probably the greatest German artist of this
century." "Max Beckmann," currently on view at the Museum of
Modern Art, comprises 107 works and focuses primarily on
paintings - including four large-scale triptychs - augmented by
drawings, prints and sculpture. The show has been jointly
organized by MoMA, the Musée national d'art moderne/Centre
Georges Pompidou in Paris and Tate Modern in London. The curator
in New York is Robert Storr, MoMA's former senior curator, who
now teaches at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts and
who contributed to the very useful accompanying catalog.
