Max Beckmann. Königin Bar (Self-Portrait) (Königinbar [Selbstbildnis]). printed 1920, published 1921

Max Beckmann Königin Bar (Self-Portrait) (Königinbar [Selbstbildnis]) printed 1920, published 1921

  • MoMA, Floor 5, 514 The David Geffen Wing

Hell conjures the nightmare of social disintegration and violence that gripped Berlin after the end of World War I. Using fragmented city views, compressed interiors, and contorted bodies to convey chaos and claustrophobia, Beckmann composed each scene like a stage set. “If one comprehends . . . the entire war or even all of life only as a scene in the theater,” he wrote, “everything is much easier to bear.” The artist depicts himself in several prints, including The Family, in which his young son Peter mistakes a grenade for a toy. Other images were based on recent incidents, including the January 1919 arrest and murder of the Communist leader Karl Liebknecht, pictured in the foreground of The Street.

Gallery label from 2023
Medium
Drypoint
Dimensions
plate: 12 1/2 x 9 5/8" (31.8 x 24.5 cm); sheet (irreg.): 21 1/8 x 14 1/2" (53.7 x 36.9 cm)
Publisher
Peter Zingler's Kabinett, Frankfurt
Printer
Unidentified
Edition
trial proof before the edition of 50 (including 10 printed before and 40 after steel-facing)
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Gertrud A. Mellon
Object number
856.1969
Copyright
© 2023 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
Department
Drawings and Prints
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