Max Beckmann: Paintings, Life & Art Prints
The painter who stared down war, exile and himself. The story of Max Beckmann from Leipzig and Berlin to Frankfurt, Amsterdam and New York: the Titanic, The Night, the print portfolios, the self-portraits and triptychs, with where to see the originals and how to hang Max Beckmann art prints at home. By Artwork Culture.
Max Beckmann (1884–1950) was a German painter and printmaker who turned war, nightlife, exile and his own stern face into some of the most powerful pictures of the twentieth century. Born in Leipzig, he was a celebrated young painter in Berlin before 1914, broke down as a medical orderly in the First World War, rebuilt his art in Frankfurt, was branded “degenerate” by the Nazis, survived the Second World War in Amsterdam and died in New York.
This guide covers his life, the famous paintings from The Sinking of the Titanic to Self-Portrait in Blue Jacket, the print portfolios, the triptychs, where to see the originals and how to hang his art at home. Our Max Beckmann collection holds 587 archival art prints of his paintings, drawings, drypoints, woodcuts and lithographs.
Who Was Max Beckmann?
Max Beckmann painted people under pressure: crowds in bars and cabarets, soldiers and the wounded, circus performers, lovers, myths and, more than anything, himself. He is often grouped with the German Expressionists and with the New Objectivity painters of the 1920s, but he joined no group for long and went his own way. Our Max Beckmann art prints cover every stage of that path.
How to spot a Beckmann:
- Heavy black outlines: figures and objects edged in thick black, like lead in a stained-glass window, as in Self-Portrait Yellow-Pink.
- Crowded, tilted space: bodies jammed into shallow rooms, floors and walls pitched at odd angles, as in The Synagogue in Frankfurt.
- Himself, again and again: a broad, heavy face with a set mouth, in a dinner jacket, a bowler hat or a clown’s costume, often with a cigarette.
- Masks, circus and stage: acrobats, barkers, Pierrots and masked women, who stand for the roles people play in life.
- The signature: “Beckmann”, often with a letter for the city and a two-digit year, painted into a corner of the picture.
Leipzig, Weimar and Early Fame in Berlin
Max Carl Friedrich Beckmann was born in Leipzig on 12 February 1884 into a middle-class family. He studied at the art school in Weimar from 1900 to 1903 in the class of the Norwegian painter Carl Frithjof Smith, whom he later called his only teacher, and left without a diploma. A few months in Paris in 1903 brought him face to face with Paul Cézanne, and a trip through Italy ended in Geneva before he set up a studio in Berlin in 1904.
Success came fast. In 1906 he married the painter and singer Minna Tube, showed at the Berlin Secession and won the Villa Romana Prize, a stay in Florence, for his painting Young Men by the Sea. The couple moved to Hermsdorf on the edge of Berlin, where their son Peter was born in 1908. Beckmann became a full member of the Secession in 1907 and in 1910, at 26, the youngest member of its board. Early seascapes such as Gray Day at the Sea (1907) and Swimming at Lake Tegel (1911) still carry the loose touch of German Impressionism and of Lovis Corinth. In 1912 he argued in the magazine Pan with Franz Marc about where modern painting should go, defending solid, three-dimensional form against Marc’s move toward abstraction.
Beckmann wanted to paint the great events of his own day. Scene from the Destruction of Messina (1909) shows looters and soldiers in the ruins of the Sicilian city after the earthquake of 1908. The Sinking of the Titanic (1912) fills the canvas with a dark green sea, lifeboats and drowning passengers. Both paintings are now in the Saint Louis Art Museum.
He also drew and printed Bible stories, as in the Six Lithographs to the New Testament (1911), and Greek myth, in the lithograph series The Return of Eurydice (1909). For the young Expressionists of Die Brücke he had little time; he preferred the old masters and the solid space of Cézanne.
War and Breakdown
When war broke out in 1914 Beckmann volunteered as a medical orderly. He served on the Eastern Front in East Prussia and in 1915 in Flanders, and worked in a hygiene institute in Strasbourg. He drew what he saw in hospitals and dressing stations: Carrying the Wounded, Morgue and The Grenade. His drypoint Declaration of War (1914) shows a press of anxious faces in the street as the news arrives.
In 1915 he suffered a physical and mental collapse and was released from active service. He moved to Frankfurt, to the house of his old student friend, the painter Ugi Battenberg, and his wife Fridel at Schweizer Straße 3. Beckmann drew and etched the couple many times, as in Battenbergs (1916). Compare his war prints with those of Käthe Kollwitz and our wider war art prints.
Frankfurt, The Night and a New Style
In Frankfurt, Beckmann’s art changed completely. The soft brushwork went. In its place came hard outlines, flat colour, and figures squeezed into rooms that seem too small for them. His great painting of these years, The Night (1918–19, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf), shows a family tortured by intruders in a cramped attic. It is not in our store, but the 1919 lithograph portfolio Hell repeats the scene in The Night, plate 7.
Hell (Die Hölle) is a set of eleven large lithographs about Berlin in the chaos after the war, opening with a self-portrait and going on to Hunger, The Patriotic Song, The Last Ones and The Family. Our store has plates from across the set.
Frankfurt itself became a subject. The Synagogue in Frankfurt am Main (1919, Städel Museum) shows the domed synagogue at night with the street bent like a fairground ride. The drypoint Large Bridge (1922) looks over the iron footbridge across the Main, and Bank of the Main and Church (1925) paints the riverbank in fresh greens.
The Städel Museum in Frankfurt began collecting Beckmann in 1918 under its director Georg Swarzenski, whom Beckmann drew more than once, as in this 1928 portrait; a portrait of Swarzenski was his last drawing, in 1950. Today it has one of the largest Beckmann collections anywhere.
Beckmann’s Self-Portraits
Few artists painted themselves as often or as hard as Beckmann. He cast himself as a barker, a clown, a sailor, a man of the world in a dinner jacket and a prisoner of his times. Our collection has 47 Beckmann self-portraits, more than any other single subject. See also our wider self-portrait art prints.
In Self-Portrait with Champagne Glass (1919) he sits at a bar table in evening dress, glass in hand, his face a mask of nerves. The Städel Museum bought it in 2020 after nine years on loan. The drypoint Self-Portrait in Bowler Hat (1921) is one of his best-known prints; it also exists in several states, such as this one.
The later self-portraits are some of the most valuable paintings in German art. Self-Portrait in Tuxedo (1927) is at Harvard’s Busch-Reisinger Museum and Self-Portrait with Horn (1938) at the Neue Galerie in New York. Self-Portrait Yellow-Pink, painted in Amsterdam in 1943, sold at Grisebach in Berlin on 1 December 2022 for 23.2 million euros with fees, the highest price ever paid at auction in Germany.
Beckmann the Printmaker
Beckmann was a superb printmaker and a tireless draughtsman: the Städel counts more than 1,900 loose black-and-white drawings. Most of his prints were made between 1915 and 1923, in drypoint, lithography and woodcut, and many were published as portfolios. More than 100 of the prints in our store come from these sets.
- Faces (Gesichter), 1919: drypoints of Frankfurt life, war and family, from Self-Portrait 1918 to The Yawners.
- Hell (Die Hölle), 1919: eleven lithographs of post-war Berlin, including The Night.
- The Annual Fair (Jahrmarkt), 1921: drypoints of a travelling fair, opening with The Barker, a self-portrait as the fairground showman, and including The Tightrope Walkers and Merry-Go-Round.
- Trip to Berlin 1922 (Berliner Reise): lithographs of the inflation-era capital, such as The Beggars.
- Apocalypse (1941–43): lithographs for the Book of Revelation made in Amsterdam for the Frankfurt patron Georg Hartmann, some coloured by hand, as in this sheet.
- Day and Dream (Tag und Traum), 1946: fifteen lithographs published in New York, from a self-portrait to Circus.
The woodcut Group Portrait, Eden Bar (1923) shows Beckmann’s nightlife world at its sharpest. He also illustrated books: his own comic play Ebbi (1924) and Kasimir Edschmid’s Die Fürstin (The Duchess), as in this title sheet. Hang them beside prints by Edvard Munch, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and James Ensor.
Quappi, Fame and Still Lifes
In 1924 Beckmann met Mathilde von Kaulbach, known as “Quappi”, the daughter of the Munich painter Friedrich August von Kaulbach. He left Minna and married Quappi in 1925, the year he began teaching a master class at the Frankfurt art school, now the Städelschule. She appears in many of his pictures, among them this drawing.
These were his years of fame. He won a national art prize, the Reichs-Ehrenpreis Deutscher Kunst, the Kunsthalle Mannheim held a large retrospective in 1928, six paintings went to the Venice Biennale in 1930, he had his first Paris solo show in 1931, and in 1932 the Nationalgalerie in Berlin opened a Beckmann room. His colour grew richer, as in the beach scene Lido (1924) and The Harbor of Genoa (1927).
Still lifes became a major subject. Still Life with Saxophones (1926) piles horns, candles and fruit on a narrow table. Look too for Still Life with Roses (1927) and Still Life with Fallen Candle (1930).
“Degenerate Art” and Exile in Amsterdam
When the Nazis came to power, Beckmann was called a “cultural Bolshevik” and dismissed from his Frankfurt teaching post in April 1933. He moved to Berlin and worked on in private. In 1937 the government stripped German museums of more than 500 of his works, a figure some German sources put above 650, and 21 were shown in the “Degenerate Art” exhibition in Munich.
On 19 July 1937, the day after Hitler’s speech opening the House of German Art, Beckmann and Quappi left for Amsterdam, posing as tourists. They meant to go on to Paris but stayed for ten years, living in a studio flat on the Rokin. On 21 June 1938 he gave a lecture, My Theory of Painting, at the New Burlington Galleries in London. In 1939 the United States refused him a visa, and from May 1940 the Netherlands was under German occupation.
Exile did not stop him working. He painted the sea, as in Moonlit Night on the Sea (1938) and Brown Sea with Seagulls (1941), Dutch roads such as Dutch Cycle Path, myth and nightmare in Children of the Twilight – Orcus (1939), and, from a distance, Frankfurt Main Station (1943). Removal of the Sphinxes (1945) was painted in the last months of the war.
Above all, these were the years of the triptychs. Beckmann began Departure (1932–35, Museum of Modern Art, New York) in Frankfurt and went on to finish nine of these three-panel paintings, packed with kings, captives, actors and gods. The last, The Argonauts (1949–50), was finished on the day he died; a tenth was left incomplete.
St. Louis and New York
In the summer of 1947 the Beckmanns at last got American visas. That September he began teaching at Washington University in St. Louis, and late in 1949 he took a professorship at the Brooklyn Museum Art School in New York. In St. Louis he found a lifelong collector in the businessman Morton D. May, whom he painted in 1949 (Portrait of Morton D. May), and he also painted the St. Louis artist Fred Conway. Thanks largely to May’s gifts, the Saint Louis Art Museum now has the largest public collection of Beckmann paintings in the world.
The American paintings are big, bright and confident: Fisherwomen and Masquerade (both 1948), Boulder – Rocky Landscape (1949), The Town (City Night) and Large Clown with Women and Small Clown (both 1950). Self-Portrait in Blue Jacket (1950, Saint Louis Art Museum) is one of his last self-portraits.
On 27 December 1950, a few hours after finishing The Argonauts, Beckmann had a heart attack on the corner of 69th Street and Central Park West in Manhattan and died. He was 66.
Legacy
Beckmann is now seen as one of the giants of modern German art, a figurative painter who held his ground while abstraction took over. His work has also become one of the strongest names at auction. In 2001 the collector Ronald Lauder paid 22.5 million dollars for Self-Portrait with Horn; in 2017 Birds’ Hell (1937–38) sold at Christie’s London for 45.8 million dollars, a record for German Expressionism; and in 2022 Self-Portrait Yellow-Pink set the record for any work auctioned in Germany.
In Frankfurt, the Städel Museum’s exhibition Beckmann (3 December 2025 – 15 March 2026) showed about 80 works, mostly drawings, alongside the first three-volume catalogue of his drawings. If you like Beckmann, look too at Lovis Corinth, Max Liebermann, Edvard Munch, Paul Cézanne and the Old Masters he admired, Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Rembrandt.
Famous Max Beckmann Paintings
Nine works to start with, all in our collection:
The Sinking of the Titanic
1912, Saint Louis Art Museum. The disaster of the year as a huge sea of struggling bodies. Beckmann’s most famous pre-war painting.
Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery
1917, Saint Louis Art Museum. Christ shields a kneeling woman from a jeering crowd, painted in the new hard, angular style of his Frankfurt years. Our store lists it as Christ and the Sinner.
The Synagogue in Frankfurt
1919, Städel Museum, Frankfurt. The city at night as a tilting stage set.
Self-Portrait with Champagne Glass
1919, Städel Museum, Frankfurt. The artist in evening dress at a bar, glass raised, eyes uneasy. Our hero image.
Still Life with Saxophones
1926. Instruments, candles and fruit stacked on a table: jazz-age Frankfurt in a still life.
Self-Portrait Yellow-Pink
1943, painted in Amsterdam. Given to Quappi, who kept it until her death in 1986; sold in 2022 for a German auction record.
Frankfurt Main Station
1943, painted in Amsterdam. The great glass halls of Frankfurt’s station under a crescent moon, painted six years after he left Germany.
Self-Portrait in Blue Jacket
1950, Saint Louis Art Museum. One of his last self-portraits, cigarette to his lips, in a blazing blue jacket.
Columbine
1950, Saint Louis Art Museum. Full title Carnival Mask, Green, Violet and Pink (Columbine): a masked woman from the old Italian comedy, sitting with crossed legs, a pink hat in her hand.
What Our Max Beckmann Prints Show
Our Max Beckmann collection holds 587 prints. Most reproduce his drawings, drypoints, lithographs and woodcuts, so the collection is strongest in black and white, with a smaller group of colour paintings from the 1907 seascape to the canvases of 1950.
The portfolios and portraits are the largest groups. For a matching set, hang several plates from one portfolio together, for example the Hell lithographs or the Annual Fair drypoints.
Where to See Max Beckmann’s Paintings
Beckmann’s paintings are spread across Germany and the United States, with the biggest groups in St. Louis and Frankfurt. Displays change and loans travel, so check the museum’s website before you go.
The main places to look:
Saint Louis Art Museum
The largest public collection of Beckmann paintings in the world, including Scene from the Destruction of Messina (1909), The Sinking of the Titanic (1912), Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery (1917), Self-Portrait in Blue Jacket and Columbine (both 1950).
Städel Museum, Frankfurt
One of the largest Beckmann collections anywhere, built up since 1918. Highlights include The Synagogue in Frankfurt am Main and Self-Portrait with Champagne Glass (both 1919), plus a large holding of drawings.
Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf
The Night (1918–19), the key painting of his post-war Frankfurt style.
Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich
The Bavarian State Painting Collections hold a strong group of Beckmann paintings, including his triptych Temptation (1936–37).
Hamburger Kunsthalle
A major group of paintings and drawings, including Ulysses and Calypso (1943) from the Amsterdam years.
Museum of Modern Art and Neue Galerie, New York
MoMA has his first triptych, Departure (1932–35); the Neue Galerie has Self-Portrait with Horn (1938).
National Gallery of Art, Washington, and Harvard Art Museums
Washington has The Argonauts (1949–50), the triptych he finished on the day he died; Harvard’s Busch-Reisinger Museum has Self-Portrait in Tuxedo (1927).
How to Decorate with Max Beckmann Prints
- Living room: a big colour painting such as Still Life with Saxophones, Frankfurt Main Station or The Harbor of Genoa gives a strong focal point over a sofa or sideboard.
- Study or home office: a self-portrait, Self-Portrait with Champagne Glass or Self-Portrait in Blue Jacket, brings a serious, watchful presence. See our self-portrait prints for a wall of faces.
- Hallway or stairs: a row of portfolio prints in matching black frames, such as the Annual Fair drypoints or the Hell lithographs, reads like a graphic novel.
- Bar, dining room or music room: the nightlife and stage scenes, Eden Bar, Un bar à Paris or Columbine, suit rooms made for company.
- Bedroom: calmer seascapes and landscapes, Moonlit Night on the Sea, Brown Sea with Seagulls or Small Landscape from Bandol. Browse more seascape art prints.
- Frames and sizes: the oils hold up well at 24×36 inches or larger in black or dark wood frames; the drypoints and lithographs look best smaller, with a wide white or ivory mat.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Max Beckmann?
Max Beckmann (1884–1950) was a German painter and printmaker from Leipzig. He became famous in Berlin before the First World War, developed his hard-edged mature style in Frankfurt after serving as a medical orderly, was condemned as “degenerate” by the Nazis, lived in exile in Amsterdam from 1937 to 1947 and spent his last years teaching in St. Louis and New York.
Was Max Beckmann an Expressionist?
He is often called one, and his work is sometimes linked with the New Objectivity of the 1920s, but he never belonged to Die Brücke or the Blue Rider and kept his distance from movements. He is best described as an independent figurative painter.
What is Max Beckmann’s most famous painting?
The Night (1918–19), Departure (1932–35) and his self-portraits, such as Self-Portrait with Champagne Glass (1919), Self-Portrait in Tuxedo (1927) and Self-Portrait in Blue Jacket (1950), are among the best known. The Sinking of the Titanic (1912) is his most famous early work.
Why did Max Beckmann leave Germany?
The Nazis dismissed him from his Frankfurt teaching post in 1933, seized hundreds of his works from German museums in 1937 and showed some in the “Degenerate Art” exhibition. He left for Amsterdam on 19 July 1937, the day after Hitler’s speech opening the House of German Art.
How many triptychs did Max Beckmann paint?
He finished nine triptychs, beginning with Departure (1932–35) and ending with The Argonauts (1949–50), which he completed on the day he died. A tenth was left unfinished.
Where can I see Max Beckmann’s paintings?
The Saint Louis Art Museum has the largest public collection of his paintings. Other major holdings are at the Städel Museum in Frankfurt, the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf, the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, the Hamburger Kunsthalle, MoMA and the Neue Galerie in New York, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington.
What sizes do your Max Beckmann art prints come in?
Our 587 Max Beckmann prints are archival art prints available from 4×6 to 40×60 inches. The colour paintings work well large; drypoints, woodcuts and lithographs suit smaller sizes with a wide mat.
Written by Artwork Culture. Image credits: all artwork images are Artwork Culture product photos of Max Beckmann prints from our collection; museum names give where the original paintings are. Facts follow Wikipedia (English and German, October 2026), the Städel Museum’s press texts on its Beckmann acquisitions (2020) and its 2025–26 exhibition Beckmann, and Grisebach’s report on the 2022 sale of Self-Portrait Yellow-Pink. Museum displays change, so confirm before you visit.