Max Beckmann at the Saint Louis Art Museum: The Paintings by Lynette Roth (review)

The first photographic image to grace the pages of the recently published catalogue Max Beckmann at the Saint Louis Art Museum: The Paintings is a large black and white picture of the opening of the painter's first major exhibition in the United States. The event took place in 1948 at the City Art Museum (renamed the Saint Louis Art Museum in 1972) and the atmosphere is electric. Eight of the artist's paintings are visible in the background and a large crowd mills about the spacious galleries, emanating a hushed fervor and deference for the acclaimed German modern artist who, due to his exile from Nazi Germany, ended up living, painting, and teaching in St. Louis during his final years.

The prominent placement of this photograph is apt as it points to both the central role Beckmann's art has played in St. Louis over the past seventy years and to the Saint Louis Art Museum's good fortune in inheriting thirty-nine paintings from Morton May, a local department store magnate and dedicated collector of modern German art. The book's introduction offers a detailed discussion of the reception of both Beckmann's art and German expressionism in Europe and the United States, providing useful and intriguing historical context for the author's analyses of the paintings featured in this book. The paintings date between 1908 and 1950, spanning Beckmann's early career as a New Secessionist painter in Berlin and his exile and final years in Holland and the United States.

In her introduction, Lynette Roth relates how it came to be that May first became interested in modern German art during the 1940s, a time when French painting was still preferred among American museums and collectors. The narrative of how May acquired these works mostly from German émigré dealers in New York, one of whom maintained connections with art dealers in Nazi Germany, is fascinating. By bequeathing his collection to the Saint Louis Art Museum, May fulfilled his dream of creating a Beckmann gallery in St. Louis that would attract visitors from all over the world. Due to his generous bequest, the Saint Louis Museum now boasts the largest repository of Beckmann paintings in the world.

Roth's analysis of the thirty-nine paintings is engrossing, her presentation meticulous and well organized. The works are arranged chronologically within chapters oriented about the cities where Beckmann resided during his lifetime, all of which coincided with vital stages of his artistic development. Each chapter opens with an informative overview of the historical and personal circumstances that informed Beckmann's work at the time.

The trajectory begins with paintings from Beckmann's early years in Berlin, when the artist painted in a German impressionist style. The second chapter focuses on Frankfurt, where Beckmann lived after suffering from a nervous breakdown while working as a medical orderly during World War I. While recovering in Frankfurt, the artist developed his signature style characterized by claustrophobic groupings of unsettling cartoon-like figures that often conveyed scathing social commentary. By the late 1920s, Beckmann was highly acclaimed in his home country, and turned his attention to Paris where he sought international recognition. His iconic Self-Portrait in Tuxedo (1927) depicts an elegantly dressed Beckmann who radiates commanding self-assurance, ambition, and elevated social status.

After the Nazis came to power, Beckmann and his second wife Quappi left Germany for Amsterdam. Despite social isolation and a shortage of resources there, Beckmann was more prolific than ever before, creating complex meditations on war and alienation. During these difficult years, the anxieties of everyday life are often coded within circus and theater imagery. The book closes with illuminating essays on Beckmann in St. Louis and New York, where the artist was feted and welcomed as a celebrity. Revitalized by his teaching and inspired by stimulating social engagements, the artist often painted portraits of friends, collectors, and students.

The...