Max Beckmann Archive

online catalogue raisonné Max Beckmann

The Hamburger Kunsthalle launched the online catalogue raisonné of all paintings by the artist Max Beckmann. Available are 843 paintings in colour illustrations as well as data on more than 5,100 publications, over 1,350 exhibitions, around 2,500 persons, 1,100 institutions and 264 auctions. Accessible worldwide and usable free of charge, the digital directory is intended to serve research and also to be available to the general public as a platform. On behalf of the Kaldewei Cultural Foundation, Anja Tiedemann has expanded, updated and supplemented the catalogue raisonné of Erhard and Barbara Göpel from 1976.

Here you can find the online catalogue raisonné.

Short Biography

1884  
Born on 12 February in Leipzig

1900–1903
Studies at the Großherzogliche Kunstschule in Weimar

1903/1904
Paris

1904–1914
Berlin; first success with early work
Landscapes, cityscapes, portraits, still lifes and especially large-format, complex figurative paintings of religious subjects as well as depictions of contemporary scenes

1914–1916
Volunteers as medical orderly in World War I

Numerous drawings and prints of war-related events; writes Briefe im Kriege (Letters in Wartime)

1916–1932
Frankfurt am Main; radical change in Beckmann’s art around 1915 (The Night 1918/1919)
Series of graphic works focussing on the subject of war and post-war city life, with particular emphasis on theatre, circus, fairs and cabaret; extended trips to Italy and lengthy periods in Paris

Beckmann emerges as one of the best-known and most successful German painters

1925
Divorces Minna née Tube; marries Mathilde ‘Quappi’ von Kaulbach

1932
Starts work on first triptych (Departure)

1933
Together with many other artists Beckmann declared a ‘degenerate’ artists by the Nazis; dismissed from his post at the Städelschule; moves to Berlin

1937
Emigrates to Amsterdam

1938
‘My Theory of Painting’ lecture in conjunction with the exhibition ‘Twentienth Century German Art’ in London

Experiences increasing difficulties at the beginning of World War II and through the occupation of the Netherlands by the Germans

Beckmann nevertheless extraordinarily productive; creates number of major works including other triptychs and illustrations to Apocalypse and Faust II

1947/1948
Gains teaching position at Washington University Art School in St. Louis; ‘Letters to a Woman Painter’

1948
Finally emigrates to the USA; professorship at the Brooklyn Museum Art School in New York

1950
Max Beckmann dies on 27 December in New York after completing his ninth triptych.

fig.: Helga Fietz: Max Beckmann in his studio in Amsterdam, 1938
© Freunde des Max Beckmann Archivs e.V.

Freunde des Max Beckmann Archivs

The ‘Freunde des Max Beckmann Archivs’ have their roots in the ‘Max Beckmann Gesellschaft’, founded in 1953. The association supports the Archive and promotes the expansion of its existing holdings; it also provides funds for research, publications and restoration projects. The members of the association enjoy numerous benefits: in addition to being integrated into a lively, interdisciplinary circle of supporters, members also receive free admission to the Pinakothek museums and to the association’s events. These include readings, lectures, travel and joint visits to exhibitions.

Become a member and support the numerous activities carried out by the Max Beckmann Archive to encourage further research on the artist. We would love it if you could be part of it!

The minimum annual fees for members of the ‘Freunde des Max Beckmann Archivs e.V.’ are as follows:

EUR 100.00 for individuals
EUR 150.00 for a couple’s membership
EUR 25.00 for students
EUR 512.00 for legal entities or individuals’ associations

You will receive a tax-deductible donation receipt for annual fees and donations.

CONSTITUTION (PDF)

Declaration of Membership (PDF)

To become a member of the ‘Freunde des Max Beckmann Archivs e.V.’, please print out the Declaration of Membership and post it to the following address:

Freunde des Max Beckmann Archivs e.V
Barer Straße 29
80799 Munich

Chairwoman
Mayen Beckmann

Board of Directors
Prof. Wolfgang Augustyn
Mayen Beckmann
Martina Butenschön, Atty.
Dr Oliver Kase
Prof. Bernhard Maaz
Jeanette Scholz
Dr Christiane Zeiller
Dr Ludwig von Zumbusch

Office manager
Eva Sittner, Dip. Cultural Economics

fig: Martin Mosebach presenting his lecture ‘Vermeer’s Rooms’ on 29 January 2014 in the Pinakothek der Moderne

Summary of holdings

5000 letters, including just under 300 handwritten by Max Beckmann himself, as well as letters by Thomas Mann, Walter Benjamin, Sigmund Freud and others are kept in the archive. Max Beckmann’s letters to Günther Franke, Stephan Lackner and Reinhard Piper form a large section as do Mathilde ‘Quappi’ Beckmann’s letters to her sister Hedda. The archive also holds many letters written by friends and acquaintances of the artist to one another as, for example, by the two art dealers Günther Franke and J.B. Neumann. There is extensive material from Stephan Lackner and his descendants in the archive, including many typescripts and all the writer’s publications. Another important collection is the estate of Barbara and Erhard Göpel. The names of the Göpel couple are closely associated with the catalogue raisonné of Beckmann's paintings. 

In addition, 1000 letters to the Frankfurt-based patron of the arts and collector Carl Hagemann (1867–1940) on Expressionism are kept in the Max Beckmann Archive. These letters, some with drawings and largely from members of the ‘Brücke’ group of artists, formed part of the estate of Carl Hagemann, one of the movement’s greatest benefactors. Without the Max Beckmann Archive this collection of letters – of singular importance to the history and art history of the 20^th century – would not have remained as one entity but would have been dispersed on the open market. Its acquisition by the non-profit making society for the archive under its management was made possible by the kind support of the Ernst von Siemens Art Foundation, the Kulturstiftung der Länder (Cultural Foundation of the German Federal States), the Bayerische Landesstiftung, the Hubert Burda Foundation and the Eleonora-Schamberger Nachlass, as well as through private donations and its own funds.

The Max Beckmann Archive also has approximately 6000 photographs, some 60,000 newspaper cuttings and many more than 1400 special publications.The comprehensive holdings are continuously being expanded. The catalogues of paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures as well as bibliographical references are constantly updated.

fig from: Max Beckmann, ‘Letters to a Woman Painter’, 1948, gift of Maja and Mayen Beckmann
© Freunde des Max Beckmann Archivs e.V.