The first special exhibition being presented by Arts in Exile is dedicated to the painter Max Beckmann. In celebration of what would have been his 130th birthday – 12 February 2014 – we will be looking at his biography as an artist and examining what impact living in exile had on his life and work. In four chronologically structured chapters, the exhibition presents not only works of art, but also Beckmann’s personal and artistic environment.
The special exhibition was created in close cooperation with the Max Beckmann Archive in Munich, which was able to draw on an extensive range of materials from its own inventory. The texts about Max Beckmann were written by Christian Lenz, director of the Max Beckmann Archive, and by Christiane Zeiller. Eva Reich wrote the texts on Stephan Lackner.
The employees of the Max Beckmann Archive used various publications when preparing their texts and they were grateful to have at their disposal the familiar catalogues of works to which the referred again and again.
Also used as reference material were the article Schön und schrecklich wie das Leben. Die Kunst Max Beckmanns 1937 bis 1947 by Christian Lenz from the exhibition catalogue Max Beckmann – Exil in Amsterdam (2007), which was shown in the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich and in the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam; Max Beckmann – Die Skizzenbücher (2010), which was edited by Christiane Zeiller; the volume Max Beckmann. Katalog der Gemälde (1976), commissioned and published by theMax Beckmann Gesellschaft; andMax Beckmann. Die Aquarelle und Pastelle. Werkverzeichnis der farbigen Arbeiten auf Papier (2006) by Mayen Beckmann, which all served as a basis for the special exhibition.
arts in exile