Max Beckmann German, 1884–1950
Self-Portrait (Ivan Albright)
1937
Max Beckmann's self-portrait of 1937 was painted in the same year the Nazi regime branded his work 'degenerate art' and he went into exile. Staring directly at the viewer in a black jacket against a dark ground, with one clenched fist visible, Beckmann concentrates the psychological weight of a painter on the eve of flight. Once in the collection of Ivan Albright, the painting is today a signature work of the Art Institute of Chicago's German modernist holdings.
Exhibition Venue
Image source: Art Institute of Chicago