Max Beckmann

Benno Reifenberg and Wilhelm Hausenstein, Max Beckmann, Munich, 1949, no. 401
Barbara Göpel, Max Beckmann, Katalog der Gemälde, Bern, 1976, vol. I, no. 494; vol. II, no. 494, illustrated pl. 172

Stilleben mit Tulpen und Ausblick aufs Meer painted in 1938 during Beckmann’s exile in Amsterdam, is a powerful yet poignant example of Beckmann’s mastery. Stylistically it presents changes that had taken place from 1925 in his modelling technique, forms are defined with thick black lines, and his palette is far more luxurious, including rich purple-blues, reds, greens and yellows.

In the present work Beckmann achieves a sense of longing, showing the viewer the tantalising possibility of an escape.  The positioning of the flowers in the foreground, slightly engulfed in the dark folds of the patterned curtain draws the viewer’s eye towards the window and to the open expanse of the sea.  The focal point is the sole ship planted on the horizon with the blurred whiff of smoke pushing the absent viewer's gaze further into the western horizon. There is no doubt that this longing was a very real part of Beckmann’s existence in exile in Amsterdam where he worked largely alone except for the company of his wife and a few close friends.

As Friedhelm W. Fischer wrote “[Beckmann] could make a world out of a few objects. Nothing was insignificant to him, and in his eyes every detail and every chance encounter had a meaning and a relevance of its own. Consequently, his still-lifes, even when apparently based on a chance arrangement of everyday objects, are seldom genuinely ‘still’…his delight in the sensual presence and poetic beauty is no less manifest than his desire to discern hidden metaphors in all that is visible” (Friedhelm W. Fischer, Max Beckmann, London, 1973,p.44)