Max Beckmann: Selbstbildnis in blauer Jacke [Self-Portrait in Blue Jacket], painting (1950)
Max Beckmann: Selbstbildnis in blauer Jacke [Self-Portrait in Blue Jacket], painting (1950)
At the end of the series of an unusual number of self-portraits and self-depictions in different roles, commencing in 1899, comes this painting from Morton D. May's collection. The artist Max Beckmann created the picture in early 1950 in the last phase of his emigration, while he was teaching at the Brooklyn Museum Art School in New York. It shows him as a three-quarter-length figure, standing almost head-on, wearing grey trousers, a dark blue jacket, a dark red waistcoat and red shirt, which gleams brightly on the arms and between the jacket's lapels. This adventurous use of colour contrasts with his calm posture, with his right hand in his trouser pocket and his left arm supported, his hand bringing a cigarette to his mouth, but even more in so in contrast with his ruminative expression and his gaze off to the side, lost in though.
The man is very present, confident in his calm nonchalant posture and with his strongly modelled head, yet he is absent. The fingers placed in front of his mouth indicate unasked questions and self-imposed silence, however the large surface area of the reverse side of the canvas which frames the figure, with its mystical, festive purple, makes one think of “the curtain" that covers the other world. Has it opened a little? Is he suggesting the unknown, which could still hopefully come to light or is he pointing out the nothingness? Max Beckmann's thoughts had been revolving around this for a long time.
Gallery
