Max Beckmann

Exhibited by Utermann

Material oil on canvas

Dimensions 60 × 90 cm

Place of Creation Amsterdam

Price Available upon inquiry

Status Vetted

About the Work

Despite severely limited opportunities to exhibit and work, Max Beckmann considers his years in exile in Amsterdam to be among the most productive phases of his career. This followed his emigration from Germany in 1937 as a result of his art being defamed as ‘degenerate,’ the loss of his teaching position in Frankfurt, and his exclusion from official exhibitions. During this period, the genre of still life took on a central role in his oeuvre. The painting Orchideen-Stillleben mit grüner Schale (Orchid Still Life with Green Bowl), created in 1943, is one of the masterpieces of this phase of his work. Its provenance underscores the art-historical significance of the work: acquired by Erhard Göpel, a close confidant and one of Beckmann's most important patrons, the painting entered the Bayer AG collection in 1951 – a remarkably early purchase at a time when the art-historical focus in post-war Europe was increasingly shifting towards abstract movements.

In Beckmann's work, still lifes are given equal status alongside his figure paintings. Here, too, the composition follows the same formal principles: a vase of orchids and a green bowl are arranged in black contours on a cloth-covered table. The flowers, which extend far to the left, determine the dynamic of the picture, while a large mirror in the background – without any real reflection – functions as an independent, colour-contrasting image field.

The specific context in which the work was created is noteworthy. On 12 February 1942, his 58th birthday, Beckmann received a green bowl and flowers as a gift from his wife Quappi. On 1 February 1943, he sketched the still life with the green bowl; on 5 February 1943, his wife's birthday, he recorded his work on the painting in his diary.

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Provenance

The artist's studio
Erhard Göpel Collection, Berlin/Munich (acquired from the artist in 1943)
Kunstverein Düsseldorf (acquired in 1950)
Bayer AG, Leverkusen (acquired from the previous owner in 1951)

Literature

Max Beckmann. Teil 1, Munich, Galerie Günther Franke 1946, with Exh. cat. (n. p.)
Benno Reifenberg/Wilhelm Hausenstein: Max Beckmann, Munich 1949, Cat. rais. no. 418 (here titled and dated »Orchideen« 1939)
Kunstsammler an Rhein und Ruhr: Malerei 1900–1959, Leverkusen, Städtisches Museum Morsbroich 1959, with Exh. cat. (n. p.)
Erhard Göpel/Barbara Göpel: Max Beckmann. Katalog der Gemälde, Bd. 1 und 2, Bern 1976, Cat. rais. no. 628
Max Beckmann: Tagebücher 1940-1950, ed. by Erhard Göpel, Munich 1984
Max Beckmann, Cologne, Josef-Haubrich-Kunsthalle 1984, ill. no. 50
Farbenfabriken Bayer: Kunstwerk – Bildende Kunst bei Bayer, Leverkusen 1992, p. 32
Mathias Wagner: Die Sammlung Hans Dittmayer, in: Heike Biedermann/ Ulrich Bischoff/Mathias Wagner (ed): Von Monet bis Mondrian. Meisterwerke der Moderne aus Dresdner Privatsammlungen der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts, Dresden, Munich, Berlin, Galerie Neue Meister 2006, pp. 127-137
Von Beckmann bis Warhol. Kunst des 20. und 21. Jahrhunderts – Die Sammlung Bayer, Berlin, Martin-Gropius-Bau 2013, ill. p. 109
Max Beckmann. Kleine Stillleben, Kochel am See, Franz Marc Museum 2013, ill. p. 83
Max Beckmann: Dipinti, sculture, acquerelli, disegni e grafiche, Mendrisio, Museo d’Arte 2018/2019, ill. no. 21
Anja Tiedemann: Max Beckmann. Die Gemälde, Bd. 2, Ahlen 2021, Cat. rais. no. 628