Max Beckmann has long been linked to the schools of New Objectivity and German Expressionism and, even though he disliked the latter term, his paintings have much in common with the cacophonous colours and gruesome energy of those artists who witnessed Europe being engulfed by war in the first half of the 20th century. His drawings, however, are less well-known; the publication this year of a catalogue raisonné dedicated to Beckmann’s works on paper fills a major gap in scholarship and coincides with this exhibition at the Städel (3 Dec–15 Mar 2026). Made up of works the Städel acquired on permanent loan in 2021 from the collection of Karin and Rüdiger Volhard, as well as loans from MoMA, the British Museum and other institutions, the exhibition includes more than 80 drawings, from preparatory sketches to watercolour still lifes and a witty ink-over-charcoal self-portrait from 1949, the year before his death.
Find out more from the Städel Museum’s website.
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