Johannes, Offenbarung, Kapitel 1, Verse 12-20 (John, Revelation, Chapter 1, Verses 12-20) (in-text plate, page 9) from Apokalypse (Apocalypse)
1941 - 1942, published 1943
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
one from a bound volume with 27 lithographs with watercolor additions on laid Van Gelder Zonen paper
Dimensions
page size: 39 x 30 cm (15 3/8 x 11 13/16 in.) accessory size: 39.5 x 31 cm (15 9/16 x 12 3/16 in.)
Classification
Volume
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Max Beckmann
Accession Number
1984.64.66.2
Art Historical Context
Max Beckmann's *Johannes, Offenung, Kapitel 1, Verse 12-20* is a poignant in-text lithograph from his seminal series *Apokalypse (Apocalypse)*, created between 1941 and 1942 and published 1943. As a leading German Expressionist, Beck infused his work with raw emotional intensity and symbolic distortion, often drawing from personal turmoil. Exiled in Amsterdam during World War II after fleeing Nazi persecution, he turned to the Book of Revelation for inspiration, channeling the era's apocalyptic horrors—war, oppression, and human suffering—into visionary imagery. This plate, page 9 of the bound...
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...