Max Beckmann On My Painting

by Max Beckmann

Max Beckmann is widely regarded as one of the most important figurative painters of the last hundred years. In On My Painting he reveals what it is that inspires his work. It was written in 1938 at a crucial juncture in Beckmann's life, and read by him at the opening in London of the Twentieth-Century German Art exhibition, a deliberate riposte to the Degenerate Art exhibition staged by the Nazi regime in Germany. In concise, emotive, sometimes enigmatic language, Beckmann outlines not only his artistic, but also his moral and spiritual vision. On My Painting is essential for anyone seeking to understand one of the most complex artists of the twentieth century.

Genres: Art

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Brutal, often grotesque figurative prints and canvases, such as Night in 1919 of Max Beckmann, noted German artist.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Bec...

Reviews

[Glenn Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The great German Expressionist painter Max Beckmann (1884-1950) delivered a lecture in London in 1938 entitled On My Painting, a lecture later printed in essay form and published as a book. For me, this short work is one of the most inspiring statements I have ever read by an artist on the subject of his art. As a way of providing a sampling of Max Beckmann’s passion and artistic vision, below are direct quotes from the text followed by my own comments:

“Painting is a very difficult thing. It absorbs the whole man, body and soul – thus I have passed blindly many things which belong to real and political life.” ---------- This statement speaks to the unflinching dedication a true painter must have for his or her painting. Sacrifices will have to be made, no doubt, which could result in a lifetime of poverty, being kicked out of one's family or accepting the role of social outcast. But for the true artist, the world of the canvas comes first. Viewing the below Max Beckmann self-portrait, is there any doubt about the painter’s intense commitment to his art?



“I am seeking for the bridge which leads from the visible to the invisible, like the famous cabalist who once said: “If you wish to get hold of the invisible you must penetrate as deeply as possible into the visible.” ---------- The infamous 1937 Degenerate Art Exhibition of the Nazis included Max Beckmann paintings. It was this desire to penetrate beyond the mere outer skin of appearances in order to express the spiritual dimensions to which Hitler and the Nazis so objected. For example, take a look at Beckmann’s “Carnival” below, capturing the inner emotional and feeling states of each individual and the overall vibrancy of the group – remarkable.



“Space, and space again, is the infinite deity which surrounds us and in which we are ourselves contained. That is what I try to express through painting, a function different from poetry and music but, for me, predestined necessity.” ---------- Ah! Of course, vision and the dimensions of space rendered on canvas – the very lifeblood of what it means to be a painter. For example, the painting below is so alive with a slicing together of various spaces, it’s as if the canvas is ready to explode.



“I hardly need to abstract things, for each object is unreal enough already, so unreal that I can only make it real by means of painting.” ---------- A true painter – all those people and objects he sees around him are given a rebirth through his paintings. Where are all those people and objects he portrayed in his paintings now? Gone, gone, gone. Ars longa, vita brevis.

“Art is creative for the sake of realization, not for amusement; for transfiguration, not for the sake of play. It is the quest of our Self that drives us along the eternal and never-ending journey we must all make.” ---------- Is there any doubt about Max Beckmann’s seriousness of purpose? If you ever feel surrounded by the frivolous or superficial, you can always turn to this artist for relief.

“I must look for wisdom with my eyes. I repeat, with my eyes, for nothing could be more ridiculous or irrelevant than a “philosophical conception” painted purely intellectually without the terrible fury of the senses grasping each visible form of beauty and ugliness.” ---------- A painter has five senses but it is that mystical, vital visual sense, the magic of the eyes that counts, to see, to really see, to pierce, to penetrate, as for example in the Beckmann painting below, to use one’s eyes to see a bowl of fruit.



“Life is difficult, as perhaps everyone knows by now. It is to escape from these difficulties that I practice the pleasant profession of a painter.” ---------- There are challenges in art, but when a dedicated artist is in the creative “zone,” there is nothing like it. Anyone who has likewise experienced what it like to be in this artistic, creative “zone” knows the truth of Max Beckmann’s statement from first-hand experience.

“To transform height, width, and depth into two dimensions is for me an experience full of magic in which I glimpse for a moment that fourth dimension which my whole being is seeking.” ---------- When the three dimensions of our everyday world are transformed onto a two dimensional canvas, an artist’s creative imagination kicks in and the world opens up. In the painting below, the artist captures this woman’s energy and inner spirit – vibrant, vital – and all the pinks hum with electricity.

[B. · Rating 2 out of 5]

A decent selection of Max Beckmann's writings on painting, though I found some things spiritually dissonant, such as: "I don't cry. I hate tears, they are a sign of slavery" (it seems like that kind of thinking and the privileging of a certain notion of strength is a sign of slavery...), or even problematic with the occasionally patronising and sexist essay Letters to a Woman Painter. But there was also a poetry to the language at times, and small patches of light like this shined through:

"The illusion of the stillborn shudders through the vaults of infinity. Life is a game, which from the outset onward ... is lost ... There's no blame, just embarrassing situations for the culprit."

I probably enjoyed the final sections from Beckmann's diaries the most.

~2.5

[Verity · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Weakness, thy name is man. Soul, thy name is... where...? Worth repeating, keep heading onward, use every cunning the world has to offer. Where is the secret thread that leads us out of the labyrinth of sensation? Sit yourself down before your canvas... but why, poor painter?

Noticeable stillness in the air. Saw how the dawn rose smiling cold and beautiful above the fragrance of decay. No, I'm not soulless. But I know and intend to preserve my boundaries, since I am, above all, a spectator. Such cares are dead today. War still rules like a daily habit. The dead are silent."

[Mills College Library]

P Hanuman