Max Beckmann (1884 - 1950)
Max Beckmann is usually classified as an Expressionist artist, although during his lifetime he rejected both the term and the movement.
Related: Weimar culture - Expressionism - German art - degenerate art
Die Abfahrt/Departure (1933) - Max Beckman [Google gallery]
The Museum of Modern Art, New YorkThe Gothic spirit inherent in Departure is most strikingly evident in the contrast between the serene otherworldliness of the center section and the violence of the wings. The latter depict dark nightmarish scenes of brutality and degradation. On one side a stocky man in a striped polo shirt holds aloft a bludgeon-like bag of fish, as though about to "execute" a partially clothed woman who kneels at his feet with her arms bound stiffly above her head. --http://www.artchive.com/galleries/beckmann/text.html [Apr 2006]
One of the most violent paintings of modern art. A perfect example of art horror influenced by WWI. [Apr 2006]
Biography
Max Beckmann, (b. February 12, 1884 in Leipzig, Germany, d. December 28, 1950 in New York City), was a German painter, draftsman, graphic artist, sculptor, writer and thinker.
From its onset in the fin de siècle up to its completion after World War II, Beckmann's work reflects an entire era of catastrophes, revolutions, and radical changes in both art and history. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Beckmann [Jan 2006]
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