- 4
Max Beckmann
Description
- Max Beckmann
- Stilleben mit geige und flöte (Still-life with violin and flute)
- Signed Beckmann and dated A 42 (upper left)
- Oil on canvas
- 19 5/8 by 29 1/2 in.
- 50 by 75 cm
Provenance
Dr. Hans Peters, Düsseldorf (1942)
Private Collection, Germany (acquired from the above, thence by descent and sold: Sotheby's, London, October 6, 1999, lot 102)
De Pury & Luxembourg Art, Geneva
Acquired from the above
Exhibited
Literature
Condition
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
Painted in 1942, the present still-life dates from the most fruitful and inventive phase of Beckmann's career, which occurred while he was living in exile in Amsterdam during the Second World War. Beckmann and his wife Quappi came to Amsterdam from Berlin in July 1937, the same day that the infamous 'Degenerate Art' exhibition opened at the Kunsthaus in Munich. Their relocation was one of political necessity, as the avant-garde artist was already being singled-out by authorities as a potentially subversive presence within the Reich. He was constantly ill at ease during the ten years he spent in Amsterdam, however what he might have lacked in satisfying experiences, Beckmann made up for in his art. Before moving to the United States in 1947, he summed up his time in Holland in a letter to his friend, Stephan Lackner: 'May I report about myself that I have had a truly grotesque time, full to the brim with work, Nazi persecutions, bombs, hunger and always again work – in spite of everything' (quoted in Max Beckmann Retrospective (ex. cat.), St. Louis Museum of Art, 1984, p. 155).
Beckmann's mastery in the genre of still-life lies in his ability to find a poetic beauty as well as powerful metaphors in everyday objects. The present example is a beautifully poised arrangement of instruments, music sheets and a vase of flowers that alludes to the optimism engendered by the creative process, the harmony of a settled home and the color of new growth – all aspects that were being sorely tested in Beckmann's own life at this time. At the same time, however, the present work has the characteristically narrow format of many of his Amsterdam canvases, with the objects depicted close-up, as if confronting the viewer, an arrangement that underlines the sense of anxiety he felt during the war years.
Eric M. Zafran wrote of Beckmann's still-lifes from the War years: "Beckmann had always had an interest in still lifes as emblems of basic human concerns, and his works in this genre became ever more emphatic as his career developed. Amid the claustrophobic setting and harsh realities of life in Amsterdam during World War II, the bouquets of flowers assembled by his devoted wife might have proven a welcome relief to the artist, but he invested them with explosive power. The bold strokes and angular forms suggest a yearning for escape" (E. M. Zafran, Prized Possessions: European Paintings from Private Collections of Friends of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, 1992, pp. 124-125). The present work can be seen as a powerful expression of Beckmann's "yearning for escape", with the musical instruments perhaps symbols of his creative drive as an artist and his search for expression, placed under great strain by his enforced exile in Amsterdam.