Beckmann Sketchbook 36
1924-1925
Medium
sketchbook with 14 sketches in graphite, 38 blank pages and 88 pages of notation
Dimensions
book: 19.5 x 12 x 5 cm (7 11/16 x 4 3/4 x 1 15/16 in.)
Classification
Volume
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Max Beckmann
Accession Number
1984.64.39.1-14
Art Historical Context
Step into the intimate world of Max Beckmann's *Sketchbook 36* (1924–1925), a treasured artifact from the National Gallery of Art. Created the Weimar Republic era, Beckmann—a leading German Expressionist—was teaching at the Städelschule in Frankfurt, this compact volume (19.5 x 12 x 5 cm) offers a rare window into the artist's creative process. Beckmann, known for his bold, symbolic triptychs and distorted figures exploring human anguish and spirituality, used such sketchbooks to capture fleeting ideas amid the turbulent post-World War I years. The sketchbook contains 14 graphite sketches—del...
About the Artist
Max Beckmann
Max Carl Friedrich Beckmann (1884-1950) stands as one of the most significant German painters of the twentieth century, a complex artist who bridged Expressionism and the New Objectivity while forging a deeply personal visual language. Born in Leipzig into a middle-class family, Beckmann's artistic journey spanned from academic classicism through the traumatic crucible of World War I to a mature s...