Max Beckmann
German, 1884­1950
Self-Portrait
1937
Oil on canvas
192.4 x 87.6 cm
Gift of Lotta Hess Ackerman and Philip E. Ringer, 1955.822
© 1995 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG BILD-KUNST, Bonn

The artist painted his self-portrait in Berlin just before he was forced to flee Nazi Germany in the late 1930s. The Nazis said artists like Beckmann made “bad art” because it did not look completely realistic, nor did it glorify Hitler and his government. Unable to exhibit or sell his work, Beckmann left Germany.

Beckmann’s hands—important tools for an artist—look very large in this painting. However, his hands dangle uselessly in front of him. He is wearing formal evening clothes, but his grim mood sets him apart from his elegant surroundings.