Self-Portrait
1918, published c. 1922
Medium
drypoint on wove paper
Dimensions
plate: 30.3 x 25.5 cm (11 15/16 x 10 1/16 in.) sheet: 51.8 x 38 cm (20 3/8 x 14 15/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Max Beckmann
Accession Number
1984.64.7
Art Historical Context
Max Beckmann's *Self-Portrait* (1918, published c. 1922) captures the artist's introspective gaze in a striking drypoint print on wove paper. Created at the close of World War I, this intimate work reflects Beckmann's turbulent era, as the German Expressionist grappled with the war's psychological scars—he served on the front lines and suffered a breakdown in 1918. Measuring 30.3 x 25.5 cm on the plate (51.8 x 38 cm sheet), its modest scale invites close viewing, emphasizing personal revelation over grandeur. Drypoint, Beckmann's chosen medium, involves scratching directly into a copper plate...
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...