Frau mit aufgestütztem Kopf (Woman with Head Rested on Hand) [p. 73]
1929
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
graphite on paper
Dimensions
page size: 17 x 11.8 cm (6 11/16 x 4 5/8 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Max Beckmann
Accession Number
1984.64.41.21
Art Historical Context
In the intimate drawing *Frau mit aufgestütztem (Woman with Head Rested on Hand)*, created by Max Beckmann in 1929, the Expressionist captures a moment of quiet introspection. Rendered in graphite on a modest sheet of paper measuring just 17 x 11.8 cm, the work exemplifies Beckmann's mastery of drawing as a medium for psychological depth. His incisive lines and subtle shading evoke the woman's contemplative pose—head resting on her hand—conveying a sense of inner turmoil amid the uncertainties of Weimar Germany. Beckmann, a towering figure in early 20th-century art, blended Expressionism's em...
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...