Sleeping Athlete (Schlafender Athlet)
1946
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
lithograph in black
Dimensions
sheet: 40 x 30 cm (15 3/4 x 11 13/16 in.)
Classification
Portfolio
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Max Beckmann
Accession Number
1984.64.70
Art Historical Context
**Sleeping Athlete (Schlafender Athlet)**, a striking 1946 lithograph by Max Beckmann, captures the artist's profound post-World War II introspection. Created as a black-ink print on a modest sheet measuring 40 x 30 cm, this work is part of a portfolio now housed in the National Gallery Art's CG-W Department, generously gifted by Beckmann's widow, Mrs. Max Beckmann. Beckmann, a leading figure in German Expressionism, masterfully used lithography—a planographic printing technique relying on grease crayon and chemical processes—to achieve rich tonal contrasts and intricate details, allowing for ...
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...