%C2%A9 Artists Rights Society %28ARS%29%2C New York %2F VG Bild-Kunst%2C Bonn
Hinter den Kulissen, from "Jahrmarkt", 1921 (published 1922)
Max Beckmannexpand_more
Drypointexpand_more
Gift of Alfred and Ingrid Lenz Harrison in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Minneapolis Institute of Artsexpand_more 2014.124.3
Not on Viewexpand_more
In "Jahrmarkt" ("Annual Fair"), Max Beckmann imagines the world as a traveling carnival teeming with an eclectic cast of actors, dancers, and circus entertainers who perform in the theater of life. Beckmann casts himself as a carnival barker in the series’ opening plate, ringing a small bell to announce the show, and cajoling viewers to enter the Circus Beckmann, a curious realm of outsiders and misfits. Many of the protagonists are friends and acquaintances of the artist; he even includes his wife Minna in the series, who famously appears along with Beckmann balancing on a tightrope. As the scenes of the portfolio unfold, a pageant of players takes the stage: a tall man, a sharpshooter, a snake charmer, exotic dancers, musicians, and other circus entertainers perform in succession. In one plate from the series, Beckmann presents a carousal crowded with a diverse lot of humanity, an apt metaphor for the apparent aimlessness of life. The series was inspired in part by Beckmann’s visits to the Prater, a Viennese amusement park, where he observed the performers and visitors and sketched them from life. Justly celebrated for its incisive observations on the human condition, "Jahrmarkt" is a brilliant example of Beckmann’s mature graphic style and seminal publication of German Expressionism.
Details
- Title
- Hinter den Kulissen, from "Jahrmarkt"
- Artist Life
- 1884–1950
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 2014.124.3
- Provenance
- Private collection, USA; Sale, Galerie Kornfeld, Berne, Switzerland, sale 219, part 1, June 20, 1997, no. 12]; private collection, Germany and Washington, D.C.; [C.G. Boerner, New York until 2008, sold to Harrison]; Alfred and Ingrid Lenz Harrison, Wayzata, Minn. (2008-2014; given to MIA)
- Catalogue Raisonne
- Hofmaier 193 IIBa; Glaser 168; Gallwitz 165
- Curator Approved
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