Two Bass Players
1918
Medium
graphite on wove paper
Dimensions
overall: 17.4 x 11 cm (6 7/8 x 4 5/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Given in memory of Frederick Zimmermann by his wife, Dorothy Zimmermann
Accession Number
1985.18.39
Art Historical Context
**Two Bass Players**, a delicate graphite drawing on wove paper by Maxmann from 1918, invites visitors into an intimate snapshot of two musicians at work. Measuring just 17.4 x 11 cm, this compact work (6 7/8 x 4 5/16 in.) showcases the artist's masterful use of graphite to render form and texture with precise, expressive lines. Now housed in the National Gallery of Art's CG-W Department, it was generously given in memory of Frederick Zimmermann by his wife, Dorothy. Created at the close of World War I, the drawing reflects Beckmann's emergence as a leading German Expressionist. Deeply affect...
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...