Sketch
probably 1937
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
pen and brown ink on paper
Dimensions
overall: 13.5 x 17.7 cm (5 5/16 x 6 15/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Max Beckmann
Accession Number
1984.64.110
Art Historical Context
Max Beckmann's *Sketch* (probably 1937) is a intimate pen and brown ink drawing on paper, measuring just 135 x 17.7 cm. Housed in the National Gallery of Art as a from Mrs. Max Beckmann, this modest work the German artist's masterful draftsmanship during a pivotal moment in his life. Beckmann, a leading figure in early 20th-century Expression and New Objectivity, was renowned for his bold, distorted forms and psychological depth, often exploring themes of exile, suffering, and the human condition. Created around 1937—the year Beckmann fled Nazi Germany after his art was condemned as "degenera...
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...