Mathilde Quappi Beckmann an Hedda Schoonderbeek
Mathilde Quappi Beckmann an Hedda Schoonderbeek
Ich vergaß neulich ganz über die Ereignisse in Deutschland zu reden, ja es ist so furchtbar u. entsetzlich was da geschah u. noch geschie[h]t daß einem einfach schlecht wird, wenn man davon hört u. dran denkt – so was war doch noch nicht da! Alle Menschen, die wir sprachen von Leuten aus dem Volk oder Reiche, es ist ein Entsetzten, und ich hoffe in England auch sodaß sie endlich merken daß sie mit Hunnen u. Barbaren zu tun haben.
[I forgot recently to speak about the events in Germany, it's so awful and repugnant what has happened and is still happening there that it just makes one sick to hear or think about it – there was never anything like this! All the Germans and people from the Reich that we talked to are just appalled, and I hope in England too so that they finally realise they are dealing with Huns and barbarians. (ed. trans.)
Mathilde Beckmann in a letter to her sister Hedda Schoonderbeek, 25 November 1938
The Max Beckmann Archive contains 870 handwritten and almost entirely unpublished letters from 1938 to 1980, largely multiple pages long, including numerous postcards and countless enclosures. From 1940 there is only one card, and from 1941 to 1945 there is no correspondence.
While the letters frequently deal with intimate family matters involving the three sisters Mathilde, Hedda Schoonderbeek (1900–1992) and Doris McFerguson-Cooper (1898–1950) as well as their mother Frida, née Scotta (1871–1948), between 1938 and 1950 there is also a great deal of talk about life with Max Beckmann in Paris, Amsterdam and the US. The letters tell of his work, their living circumstances, travels and political conditions and mention numerous works, various friends and acquaintances, which makes these letters, postcards and enclosures an important addition to Beckmann's own letters and journals.
As contact with many friends and acquaintances, including museum directors, writers and art dealers, was not severed by the death of the artist on 27 December 1950, correspondence from that time also contains interesting information.
In November 1938, when the letter quoted above was written, Max and Mathilde Q. Beckmann had been living in Paris for some weeks and planned to move there entirely. The painter believed that he would have better connections and opportunities to sell and exhibit his paintings than in Amsterdam. It was only in May of the following year that the Beckmanns moved back to Amsterdam – still regarding it as an interim solution and thinking of a permanent move to Paris. Instead Beckmann travelled alone to Italy in early summer and then returned to Amsterdam for good.
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