Max Beckmann - prints and biography
Max Beckmann
Max Beckmann (1884–1950) was one of the most influential German artists of the 20th century, acclaimed both as a painter and as a master printmaker. Born in Leipzig, he studied at the Weimar Academy of Fine Arts before establishing himself as a painter in Berlin in the years before the First World War. The war profoundly altered his vision, and his experiences as a medical orderly during the conflict pushed his work toward greater psychological intensity and symbolic depth.
While Beckmann is often associated with Expressionism, he rejected labels, forging a highly individual style that combined realism, allegory, and complex narrative. His prints, in particular, offered him a medium of direct expression, free from the constraints of large-scale painting. Between 1914 and 1924 he created an extraordinary body of graphic work: 156 drypoints, 72 lithographs, and 16 woodcuts. These works convey biting satire, existential tension, and a profound reflection on the human condition during one of Europe’s most turbulent decades.
Beckmann’s prints often draw on themes of urban life, theater, and myth, rendered in stark contrasts and bold, incisive lines. His drypoints are especially notable for their immediacy, achieved through the direct burr of the needle on the copper plate. These works not only expanded the possibilities of modern printmaking but also cemented Beckmann’s reputation as one of the leading graphic artists of his generation.
After the rise of the Nazi regime, Beckmann’s art was denounced as “degenerate.” Forced into exile, he left Germany in 1937, first settling in Amsterdam and later moving to the United States in 1947. In exile he continued to paint and make prints, producing some of his most powerful late works.
Max Beckmann’s legacy lies in his uncompromising vision and his ability to merge technical mastery with profound human insight. His paintings and prints remain central to the story of modern European art.
In this print from 1914, Beckmann portrays the varied reactions of people in the streets of Berlin as news of the declaration of war spreads. Ranging from joyful demonstrations of nationalist fervor to anguish at the more realistic expectations of the violence and suffering that lay ahead. This was the first in a series of prints he created to chronicle the experience of the war.
Year: 1914
Height: 7.82 in. (19.87 cm)
Width: 9.82 in. (24.95 cm)
Signature: lower right.
References And Exhibitions: Published by I. B. Neumann, Berlin, 1918
Reference: Hofmaier 78 II.B.b
Condition: minor light staining and surface soil on recto, evidence of tape remains top center on verso. Two area of foxing on face in lower left, and on one of the hands holding the newspaper toward the lower right.