Pandora's Box

1937

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.

1937–1947

Ten years of exile in Amsterdam

Beckmann lives in Amsterdam in self-imposed exile, making desperate but failed attempts to obtain a visa for the United States.

1938

The first show at the Buchholz Gallery in New York

In 1938 Beckmann has the first of his numerous exhibitions at Curt Valentin's Buchholz Gallery in New York.

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.