Max BeckmannDeutschland, 1884–1950Adam and Eve
Über die Skulptur
Following his dismissal from his teaching position in Frankfurt by the National Socialists in 1933, Beckmann relocated to Berlin, where he hoped to continue his work in the anonymity of the capital. The following year, at the age of 50, the renowned painter began to sculpt in clay and plaster — an extension of his interest in representing space and volume on a canvas’s two-dimensional surface. In a subtle reference to his own artistic process, Beckmann here combines the biblical creation story (Adam, himself formed from a lump of clay by his maker, clutches an embryonic Eve to his chest) with that of the fall of man, evoked by the snake that entwines the figure.The last sculpture Beckmann made in Berlin before he immigrated to Amsterdam, and one of only eight in his oeuvre, Adam and Eve was never actually cast by the artist. Instead, it was posthumously produced in bronze in an edition of five by his estate. Its kneaded, uneven surface suggests that the formation of the human figure from clay is the ultimate creative act.
Harvard Art Museums
Angaben
- Inventarnummer
- BR76.5
Derweil im Leben von Max Beckmann
Das ganze Leben1937
Leaving for the Netherlands after Hitler's speech
The day after Hitler's radio speech about degenerate art, Beckmann leaves Germany with his second wife, Quappi, for the Netherlands.
1937
More than 500 of his works confiscated from German museums
In 1937 the government confiscates more than 500 of his works from German museums and puts several on display at the notorious Degenerate Art exhibition in Munich.
1947
Moving to the United States to teach in St. Louis
In 1947 Beckmann and his wife finally cross the ocean: at the invitation of Perry T. Rathbone, director of the Saint Louis Art Museum, he takes a teaching post at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts at Washington University, a vacancy left by Philip Guston, who had taken a leave.
1948
The first retrospective in the United States
The first Beckmann retrospective in the United States takes place in 1948 at the City Art Museum in St. Louis.
1950
A one-man show at the Venice Biennale
Beckmann has a one-man show at the Venice Biennale of 1950, the year of his death.
27. Dezember 1950
Died
