Thoughts on Beckmann
Die Landschaft, Cannes, 1934
This is a place to think about Max Beckmann. Not criticism, just a spot to keep notes and thoughts on the artist over time.
Growing up in the Bay Area, the only place I knew of to see paintings in person was the SFMOMA. One of the first works I remember being drawn to was Die Landschaft, Cannes. At the time, I didn’t have much context for what I was looking at, but I remember the strong emotions it evoked for me.
I’ve seen this work now many times over many years and I find it startling that I am pretty sure I am having the same psychological emotion/feeling/sense of place every time I look at it. When I think about it, I don’t think of a single idea or image. It feels more like several things working at once. I’ve started to think of that as a kind of chord, multiple elements that don’t collapse into one another. When a painting works really well, it will evoke a strong ‘chord’.
Over time, I’ve looked at more of Beckmann’s work. A lot of it feels difficult for me to access. The larger, more complex compositions in particular can feel crowded, as if too many ideas are being carried at once. I remember seeing several of these at the Yale University Art Gallery. They were clearly ambitious, but I had trouble finding the same sense of cohesion. It felt harder to understand how the parts were meant to relate. That may have more to do with my own way of looking than with the work itself. I haven’t spent enough time with those paintings to fully understand them.
With more access now to Beckmann’s catalog, I can see that there are a number of works that create the same kind of experience for me as Die Landschaft, Cannes. When I look at them together, its similar to listening to an album of piano works by a single artist like Satie or Debussy.
Beckmann is probably best known for his self portraits. There are a few others I think that work as well that are of a similar vein. Looking at his work all together, I am struck by how he hit a mature space in the 1920s and then practiced at the same level until his death in 1950. While you can see him exploring as an artist, I don’t see him exploring far beyond his initial beach head. (maybe this was done in his more complex work I haven’t considered enough yet). There are strong elements of Matisse in his work (I expect Matisse influenced Beckmann).
Below are a few of his best works in my opinion. Note that these works are from 1927, 1938 and 1947-48. I think that is a pretty consistent style.
