The Way Home, plate two from Die Hölle

The Way Home, plate two from Die Hölle

Max BeckmannWW-1919-085387
1919·Transfer lithograph on tan imitation Japanese paper·Image: 71.5 × 48 cm (28 3/16 × 18 15/16 in.); Sheet: 87.3 × 61.5 cm (34 3/8 × 24 1/4 in.)

<p>Max Beckmann introduced his print cycle <em>Hell</em> with this image, also depicted on the cover of the portfolio with the following text: “Hell. (Grand Spectacle in ten images by Beckmann.) Honored ladies and gentlemen of the public, pray step up. We can offer you the pleasant prospect of ten minutes or so in which you will not be bored. Full satisfaction guaranteed, or else your money back.” In the manner of a street vender or hawker, Beckmann ironically encouraged the viewer to step into this world of supposed entertainment. The black dog at the bottom, reminiscent of Cerberus, signals the actual content of the images to follow.</p>

Catalogue

Year
1919
Dimensions
Image: 71.5 × 48 cm (28 3/16 × 18 15/16 in.); Sheet: 87.3 × 61.5 cm (34 3/8 × 24 1/4 in.)

Artist

Max Beckmann
Max Beckmann

Painting

Max Carl Friedrich Beckmann was a German painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor, and writer. Although he is classified as an Expressionist artist, he rejected both the term and the movement. In the 1920s, he was associated with the New Objectivity, an outgrowth of Expressionism that opposed its introverted emotionalism. Even when dealing with light subject matter like circus performers, Beckmann often had an undercurrent of moodiness or unease in his works. By the 1930s, his work became more explicit in its horrifying imagery and distorted forms with combination of brutal realism and social criticism, coinciding with the rise of Nazism in Germany.

New York, NY, USA

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More

More by Max Beckmann

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Birdplay

Birdplay

1949 · Pen and black ink, with scraping, over charcoal, on cream laid paper

WW-1949-130885
Women Fishing

Women Fishing

1949 · Pastel and charcoal with stumping on cream wove paper

WW-1949-130887
Composition (Komposition) from the illustrated book Max Beckmann

Composition (Komposition) from the illustrated book Max Beckmann

1948 · Lithograph

WW-1948-M085679
Woman with Fish (Frau mit Fisch) from the illustrated book Max Beckmann

Woman with Fish (Frau mit Fisch) from the illustrated book Max Beckmann

1948 · Lithograph

WW-1948-M085678
1. Woman with Fish (Frau mit Fisch) 2. Composition (Komposition) from the illustrated book Max Beckmann

1. Woman with Fish (Frau mit Fisch) 2. Composition (Komposition) from the illustrated book Max Beckmann

1948 · Two lithographs

WW-1948-M052959
Circus, plate 12 from Day and Dream

Circus, plate 12 from Day and Dream

1946 · Lithograph on cream wove paper

WW-1946-085981

Record

Verified by WattsOS
Year
1919
Dimensions
Image: 71.5 × 48 cm (28 3/16 × 18 15/16 in.); Sheet: 87.3 × 61.5 cm (34 3/8 × 24 1/4 in.)
Watts ID
WW-1919-085387

Source

Source
aic
Status
verified

Artist

Max Beckmann

Max Beckmann

Painting

View artist profile →