begonnene Skizze (Initial Sketch) [p. 51]
1876 to 1900
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
graphite on paper
Dimensions
page size: 16.3 x 10 cm (6 7/16 x 3 15/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Max Beckmann
Accession Number
1984.64.36.16
Art Historical Context
**begonnene Skizze (Initial Sketch) [p 51] by Max Beckmann** Visitors to the National Gallery of will appreciate this intimate graphite drawing on paper, measuring just 16.3 x 10 cm—perfectly sized for a personal sketchbook Created by Max Beckmann between 187 and 1900, it captures the artist's early exploratory marks, titled *begonnene Skizze*, or "initial sketch," suggesting a spontaneous beginning frozen on the page. Beckmann, a towering figure in 20th-century German art, gifted the world his raw, expressive vision through such works, later evolving into the bold Expressionism for which he'...
About the Artist
Max Beckmann
Max Carl Friedrich Beckmann (1884-1950) stands as one of the most significant German painters of the twentieth century, a complex artist who bridged Expressionism and the New Objectivity while forging a deeply personal visual language. Born in Leipzig into a middle-class family, Beckmann's artistic journey spanned from academic classicism through the traumatic crucible of World War I to a mature s...