Max Beckmann

The poetic title of the present work, Die Wolke (The Cloud), disguises the fact that Max Beckmann’s life had drastically changed since 1933. Beckmann was one of the most celebrated artists of his country. In 1932 the National Gallery in Berlin devoted an entire gallery to his works and he was an honoured Professor at the Städelschule in Frankfurt. Only one year later, the Beckmann room at the National Gallery was closed by the Nazis and he also lost his teaching post.

These events triggered Beckmann’s decision to go into ‘inner exile’. He moved to Berlin and spent most of 1934 travelling with his wife Quappi abroad and working at the studio of his father-in-law in Ohlstadt. The present work, showing the area around Ohlstadt in Upper Bavaria, reflects Beckmann’s characteristic artistic language while showing his admiration of the Bavarian countryside. The picture stands out for its simplicity. The use of only three main elements – the white cloud, the blue sky and the silhouette of the Bavarian mountains – is sufficient for Beckmann to create poetry in this truly modern landscape painting.