Universum Max Beckmann

Unusual perspectives appear throughout the oeuvre of Max Beckmann, an artist who is linked both with New Objectivity and with Expressionism (though he rejected the latter association). This show at the Kunstmuseum den Haag (27 January–20 May) considers the artist’s treatment of pictorial space in both painting and prints over the course of a varied career in which he ranged from visions of cruelty during the First World War to portraits of Weimar Republic-era figures. Highlights include the remarkable double portrait Beckmann painted of himself and his second wife, Mathilde, during the period of his exile from Berlin in Amsterdam – an enigmatic and brooding composition, the couple presented together as worldly and genteel (Beckmann shows off to the viewer the lining of his bowler hat, on which ‘London’ is printed), yet with an emotional distance from one another. Find out more from the Kunstmuseum den Haag’s website.

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