Mann unter Wasser und Stilleben mit Kerzen (Man under Water and Still life with Candles) [p. 45]
1944-1949
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
pen with black ink
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Max Beckmann
Accession Number
1984.64.38.24
Art Historical Context
Max Beckmann's *Mann unter Wasser und Stilleben mit Kerzen* (Man under Water and Still Life with Candles), created between 1944 and 1949, is a compelling pen-and-black-ink drawing that captures the artist's intense vision during a pivotal moment in history. Gifted to the National Gallery of Art by Mrs. Max Beckmann, this work exemplifies his mastery of line and form in the Drawing department (CG-W). Beckmann, a leading figure in German Expressionism, used stark, expressive strokes to convey psychological depth, often blending reality with symbolic distortion. Executed amid World War II's fina...
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...