Kaldewei Kulturstiftung Publish A Comprehensive New Max Beckmann Catalogue Raisonné

A s one of the 20th century’s most important artists, it is fitting that Max Beckmann's (1884-1950) kaleidoscopic canon should be comprehensively catalogued. So, following the world’s first ever digital catalogue raisonné of the artist's work last year, a new accompanying print catalogue raisonné has been published in cooperation with the Hamburger Kunsthalle and the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen—Max Beckmann Archive, Munich, documenting over 700 of the legendary German artist’s paintings.

Based on the existing Beckmann gold standard - the 1976 catalogue raisonné by Barbara and Erhard Göpel - this revised and expanded collection has been overseen by art historian and Beckmann expert, Dr Anja Tiedemann, with support from the Kaldewei Kulturstiftung in Ahlen, the Hamburger Kunsthalle and Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen/Max Beckmann Archive in Munich.

The catalogue itself - a leather-bound two-volume affair entitled Max Beckmann: The Paintings - has meticulously assembled 706 of Beckman’s 843 works, reproduced as colour illustrations (and 68 works in monochrome). Only 69 paintings are not represented as they have been lost or destroyed over time, without being photographed. Alongside these are extracts from Beckman’s diaries and lists of paintings and personal catalogue raisonné, all newly-transcribed for this edition.

Although often classified as an Expressionist, Beckmann himself rejected this label. He was one of the foremost artists of the Neues Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) movement, which flourished in Weimar Germany. Much of his work was informed by his experiences as a medical orderly during the First World War, which he called “a great injury to my soul”. He was a firm believer in weaving together art, politics and one’s personal narrative, doubling down on the latter by inserting representations of himself in his own works.

During the 1930s, Beckmann's worldview darkened, reflecting the worsening political climate in the country, with works including the monumental Departure, the first of his famed triptychs. Beckmann fled Germany for Amsterdam in 1937 in the wake of Hitler's crackdown on modern art and artists. Many of his works were amongst the hundreds seized by the Nazis, dubbed Degenerate Art.

Despite being invited to take up a teaching position in Chicago, US authorities declined his visa application, leaving him stranded in Amsterdam during the war. And even though he was surrounded by a network of loyal supporters and friends in the country, Beckmann found himself in a highly precarious position after Nazi Germany invaded Holland in 1940. Some of his most visionary work was painted during Beckmann's time in Amsterdam. They are, naturally, fully reproduced and discussed here.

Beckmann's first post-war exhibition at the Curt Valentin Gallery in New York in 1946 was a resounding success and the following year, Beckmann accepted a temporary teaching post in Saint Louis. His delayed American sojourn brought him new patrons, new experiences, and invitations to speak and teach across the USA.

Beckmann never recovered from the extreme anxiety provoked by the war; even in the safe haven of America he suffered from bouts of nervousness, exacerbated by poor physical health. He died of a heart attack in December 1950, while walking to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to visit his painting, Self-Portrait in Blue Jacket.

Dr Anja Tiedemann's fresh insights upon the artist's career provides new perspectives for future Beckmann scholars and researchers, and with hundreds of plates charting his evolution over the decades, Max Beckmann: The Paintings presents us with a new standard in scholarship on this most singular of artists.

For more details see https://www.beckmann-gemaelde.org/