Lot

268

Max BeckmannLesende Frau Tuschfederzeichnung über Bleistift auf cremefarbenem Büttenpapier mit

In Modern Art

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Max BeckmannLesende Frau Tuschfederzeichnung über Bleistift auf cremefarbenem Büttenpapier mit
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Köln
Max Beckmann
Lesende Frau

Tuschfederzeichnung über Bleistift auf cremefarbenem Büttenpapier mit Wasserzeichen "PH ANTIQUE". 32,7 x 50,4 cm. Unter Glas gerahmt. Unten links in der Darstellung mit Tuschfeder signiert, datiert und bezeichnet 'Beckmann A 29.12.46' sowie mit Bleistift vermutlich eigenhändig betitelt 'Readin Women' [sic]. - Mit einem kurzen hinterlegten Randeinriss links und hellbraunen Fingerspuren am Oberrand.

Die Arbeit wird in das in Vorbereitung befindliche Werkverzeichnis der Zeichnungen Max Beckmanns von Stephan von Wiese und Hedda Finke, Berlin, aufgenommen. Wir danken für freundliche Informationen.

Provenienz
Privatsammlung Baden-Württemberg

Ausstellungen
Bielefeld/Tübingen/Frankfurt 1977/1978 (Kunsthalle Bielefeld/Kunsthalle Tübingen/Städtische Galerie im Städelschen Kunstinstitut), Max Beckmann. Aquarelle und Zeichnungen 1903 bis 1950, Kat. Nr. 196 mit ganzseitiger Abb.; Mannheim 2006-2018 (Kunsthalle), Dauerleihgabe

„Beckmann wollte eine möglichst präzise Übertragung der Realität in eine gültige optische Form erreichen, die zwar ihre Zeit reflektiert, jedoch von da aus zu allgemeingültigen Aussagen gelangt, zu Werken, die unabhängig von der aktuellen Situation ihrer Entstehungszeit verstanden werden können“ (Carla Schulz-Hoffmann, „So lächerlich gleichgültig wird einem auf die Dauer dieses ganze politische Gangstertum und man befindet sich am wohlsten auf der Insel seiner Seele“, in: Ausst. Kat. Max Beckmann. Exil in Amsterdam, Amsterdam/München 2007/2008, S. 29).
1933 verliert Max Beckmann, einer der profiliertesten deutschen Gegenwartsmaler, seinen Lehrauftrag an der Städelschule und zieht in die anonymere Großstadt Berlin. Noch im Laufe des Jahres werden ihm Ausstellungen untersagt, und seine Werke werden aus den Museen entfernt. Unter den zunehmenden Repressalien der Nationalsozialisten verlässt Beckmann Deutschland und emigriert gemeinsam mit seiner Frau 1937 nach Amsterdam.
Die vorliegende Zeichnung „Lesende Frau“ entsteht im letzten Jahr seines Exils vor der Ausreise in die USA 1947 und ist formalästhetisch und in der zeichnerischen Auffassung durchaus in der Nähe seiner letzten, von Curt Valentin in New York herausgegebenen, Druckgraphikfolge „Day and Dream“ zu sehen in der Monumentalität des Frauenkörpers etwa des als Blatt 5 erschienenen Lithographie „Kriechende Frau“ oder dem vergleichbaren Habit im Blatt 11 „Der Morgen“ (vgl. Hofmaier 361, 367).
Lässig auf einer Bettstatt räkelnd ist die „Lesende“ dem Betrachter zugewandt im Spiel zwischen sibyllinisch anmutendem Versteck des Antlitzes und der Offenherzigkeit ihrer entblößten Brust. Die brennende Kerze mag nicht nur die erhellende Lektüre ermöglichen, sondern auch als erotische Allusion in der ikonographischen Tradition der holländischen Genremalerei verstanden werden - der verlorene Pantoffel pointiert diesen Aspekt.
Beckmann selbst scheint von der Qualität dieser bemerkenswerten Zeichnung so überzeugt gewesen zu sein, dass er sie in seinem Tagebuch mit einem eigenen Eintrag würdigt. Zwei Tage vor dem Jahreswechsel vermerkt er am 29. Dezember 1946:
"'Lesende im Bett bei Kerze' Zeichnung gemacht..." (Tagebücher 1940-1950, München/Wien 1979, S. 186).

Max Beckmann
Lesende Frau

Pen and ink drawing over pencil on cream-coloured laid paper with watermark "PH ANTIQUE". 32.7 x 50.4 cm. Framed under glass. Signed, dated and inscribed 'Beckmann A 29.12.46' in pen and ink in the depiction lower left and titled 'Readin Women' [sic] in pencil, presumably in his own hand. - Short, backed marginal tear left and light brown finger marks in upper margin.

The work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Max Beckmann's drawings, compiled by Stephan von Wiese and Hedda Finke. We are grateful for kind information.

Provenance
Private collection, Baden-Württemberg

Exhibitions
Bielefeld/Tübingen/Frankfurt 1977/1978 (Kunsthalle Bielefeld/Kunsthalle Tübingen/Städtische Galerie im Städelschen Kunstinstitut), Max Beckmann. Aquarelle und Zeichnungen 1903 bis 1950, cat. no. 196 with full-page illus.; Mannheim 2006-2018 (Kunsthalle), Permanent loan

“Beckmann wished to achieve the most precise possible transfer of reality into a valid optical form, which - while reflecting its time - nonetheless moves on from there to universally valid statements, to works that can be understood independently of the situation contemporary to their creation.” (Carla Schulz-Hoffmann, “So lächerlich gleichgültig wird einem auf die Dauer dieses ganze politische Gangstertum und man befindet sich am wohlsten auf der Insel seiner Seele”, in: exhib. cat., Max Beckmann: Exil in Amsterdam, Amsterdam/Munich 2007/2008, p. 29).
In 1933 Max Beckmann, one of Germany's most distinctive contemporary painters, lost his teaching position at the Städelschule and moved to the more anonymous metropolis of Berlin. Before the end of the year, he had been prohibited from exhibiting his art, and his works were removed from the museums. Facing increasing oppression from the Nazis, Beckmann left Germany and emigrated to Amsterdam with his wife in 1937.
The present drawing “Lesende Frau” was created during the last year of his exile, before his departure from the US in 1947. In terms of its formal aesthetics and its graphic concept, it is certainly to be seen as closely related to “Day and Dream”, his final series of prints published in New York by Curt Valentin: in the monumentality of the female figure - for example, in the fifth lithograph, “Kriechende Frau” - or in the comparable clothing in the eleventh sheet, “Der Morgen” (see Hofmaier 361, 367).
Casually stretched out on a bedstead, the “Lesende” is turned towards the viewer with an interplay between the Sibyl-like concealment of her face and the openness of her bared breast. The burning candle may not just make her enlightening reading possible: it may also be understood as an erotic allusion in the iconographic tradition of Dutch genre painting - and the lost slipper emphasises this aspect.
Beckmann himself seems to have been so convinced by the quality of this remarkable drawing that he honoured it with its own entry in his journal. Two days before New Year's, on 29 December 1946, he notes:
“made drawing 'Woman reading in bed by candlelight' …” (Tagebücher 1940-1950, Munich/Vienna 1979, p. 186).
Max Beckmann
Lesende Frau

Tuschfederzeichnung über Bleistift auf cremefarbenem Büttenpapier mit Wasserzeichen "PH ANTIQUE". 32,7 x 50,4 cm. Unter Glas gerahmt. Unten links in der Darstellung mit Tuschfeder signiert, datiert und bezeichnet 'Beckmann A 29.12.46' sowie mit Bleistift vermutlich eigenhändig betitelt 'Readin Women' [sic]. - Mit einem kurzen hinterlegten Randeinriss links und hellbraunen Fingerspuren am Oberrand.

Die Arbeit wird in das in Vorbereitung befindliche Werkverzeichnis der Zeichnungen Max Beckmanns von Stephan von Wiese und Hedda Finke, Berlin, aufgenommen. Wir danken für freundliche Informationen.

Provenienz
Privatsammlung Baden-Württemberg

Ausstellungen
Bielefeld/Tübingen/Frankfurt 1977/1978 (Kunsthalle Bielefeld/Kunsthalle Tübingen/Städtische Galerie im Städelschen Kunstinstitut), Max Beckmann. Aquarelle und Zeichnungen 1903 bis 1950, Kat. Nr. 196 mit ganzseitiger Abb.; Mannheim 2006-2018 (Kunsthalle), Dauerleihgabe

„Beckmann wollte eine möglichst präzise Übertragung der Realität in eine gültige optische Form erreichen, die zwar ihre Zeit reflektiert, jedoch von da aus zu allgemeingültigen Aussagen gelangt, zu Werken, die unabhängig von der aktuellen Situation ihrer Entstehungszeit verstanden werden können“ (Carla Schulz-Hoffmann, „So lächerlich gleichgültig wird einem auf die Dauer dieses ganze politische Gangstertum und man befindet sich am wohlsten auf der Insel seiner Seele“, in: Ausst. Kat. Max Beckmann. Exil in Amsterdam, Amsterdam/München 2007/2008, S. 29).
1933 verliert Max Beckmann, einer der profiliertesten deutschen Gegenwartsmaler, seinen Lehrauftrag an der Städelschule und zieht in die anonymere Großstadt Berlin. Noch im Laufe des Jahres werden ihm Ausstellungen untersagt, und seine Werke werden aus den Museen entfernt. Unter den zunehmenden Repressalien der Nationalsozialisten verlässt Beckmann Deutschland und emigriert gemeinsam mit seiner Frau 1937 nach Amsterdam.
Die vorliegende Zeichnung „Lesende Frau“ entsteht im letzten Jahr seines Exils vor der Ausreise in die USA 1947 und ist formalästhetisch und in der zeichnerischen Auffassung durchaus in der Nähe seiner letzten, von Curt Valentin in New York herausgegebenen, Druckgraphikfolge „Day and Dream“ zu sehen in der Monumentalität des Frauenkörpers etwa des als Blatt 5 erschienenen Lithographie „Kriechende Frau“ oder dem vergleichbaren Habit im Blatt 11 „Der Morgen“ (vgl. Hofmaier 361, 367).
Lässig auf einer Bettstatt räkelnd ist die „Lesende“ dem Betrachter zugewandt im Spiel zwischen sibyllinisch anmutendem Versteck des Antlitzes und der Offenherzigkeit ihrer entblößten Brust. Die brennende Kerze mag nicht nur die erhellende Lektüre ermöglichen, sondern auch als erotische Allusion in der ikonographischen Tradition der holländischen Genremalerei verstanden werden - der verlorene Pantoffel pointiert diesen Aspekt.
Beckmann selbst scheint von der Qualität dieser bemerkenswerten Zeichnung so überzeugt gewesen zu sein, dass er sie in seinem Tagebuch mit einem eigenen Eintrag würdigt. Zwei Tage vor dem Jahreswechsel vermerkt er am 29. Dezember 1946:
"'Lesende im Bett bei Kerze' Zeichnung gemacht..." (Tagebücher 1940-1950, München/Wien 1979, S. 186).

Max Beckmann
Lesende Frau

Pen and ink drawing over pencil on cream-coloured laid paper with watermark "PH ANTIQUE". 32.7 x 50.4 cm. Framed under glass. Signed, dated and inscribed 'Beckmann A 29.12.46' in pen and ink in the depiction lower left and titled 'Readin Women' [sic] in pencil, presumably in his own hand. - Short, backed marginal tear left and light brown finger marks in upper margin.

The work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Max Beckmann's drawings, compiled by Stephan von Wiese and Hedda Finke. We are grateful for kind information.

Provenance
Private collection, Baden-Württemberg

Exhibitions
Bielefeld/Tübingen/Frankfurt 1977/1978 (Kunsthalle Bielefeld/Kunsthalle Tübingen/Städtische Galerie im Städelschen Kunstinstitut), Max Beckmann. Aquarelle und Zeichnungen 1903 bis 1950, cat. no. 196 with full-page illus.; Mannheim 2006-2018 (Kunsthalle), Permanent loan

“Beckmann wished to achieve the most precise possible transfer of reality into a valid optical form, which - while reflecting its time - nonetheless moves on from there to universally valid statements, to works that can be understood independently of the situation contemporary to their creation.” (Carla Schulz-Hoffmann, “So lächerlich gleichgültig wird einem auf die Dauer dieses ganze politische Gangstertum und man befindet sich am wohlsten auf der Insel seiner Seele”, in: exhib. cat., Max Beckmann: Exil in Amsterdam, Amsterdam/Munich 2007/2008, p. 29).
In 1933 Max Beckmann, one of Germany's most distinctive contemporary painters, lost his teaching position at the Städelschule and moved to the more anonymous metropolis of Berlin. Before the end of the year, he had been prohibited from exhibiting his art, and his works were removed from the museums. Facing increasing oppression from the Nazis, Beckmann left Germany and emigrated to Amsterdam with his wife in 1937.
The present drawing “Lesende Frau” was created during the last year of his exile, before his departure from the US in 1947. In terms of its formal aesthetics and its graphic concept, it is certainly to be seen as closely related to “Day and Dream”, his final series of prints published in New York by Curt Valentin: in the monumentality of the female figure - for example, in the fifth lithograph, “Kriechende Frau” - or in the comparable clothing in the eleventh sheet, “Der Morgen” (see Hofmaier 361, 367).
Casually stretched out on a bedstead, the “Lesende” is turned towards the viewer with an interplay between the Sibyl-like concealment of her face and the openness of her bared breast. The burning candle may not just make her enlightening reading possible: it may also be understood as an erotic allusion in the iconographic tradition of Dutch genre painting - and the lost slipper emphasises this aspect.
Beckmann himself seems to have been so convinced by the quality of this remarkable drawing that he honoured it with its own entry in his journal. Two days before New Year's, on 29 December 1946, he notes:
“made drawing 'Woman reading in bed by candlelight' …” (Tagebücher 1940-1950, Munich/Vienna 1979, p. 186).

Modern Art

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