Lot 243 D

Self-portraits play an extraordinarily important role in Max Beckmann's oeuvre: he and his characteristic physiognomy are present in more than 80 works. He often appears integrated into groups of figures, in costume and taking on a role. However, those works in which Beckmann fully concentrates on his own person are particularly striking and powerful. Over the course of many years, the artist confronts himself and explores his being and his emotional states with an unremitting honesty. In the 1910s and 1920s, Beckmann made particularly intensive use of the graphic medium. “From the very beginning, printmaking is linked to a public ambition: 'Look here everybody - this is how I am!' Max Beckmann never doubted the importance of his person for the public. However, his self-presentation to the public was no more important to him than was his confrontation with himself, his exploration and clarifying of his thoughts, experiences and feelings through drawing and painting.” (Christian Lenz, '“Sachlichkeit den inneren Gesichten”: Max Beckmanns Selbstbildnisse der Jahre 1900 bis 1924', in exhib. cat. Max Beckmann: Selbstbildnisse: Zeichnung und Druckgraphik, Neue Pinakothek München/Herzog-Anton-Ulrich-Museum Braunschweig, 2000/01, p. 41). The 'Large Self-Portrait' confronts its viewers with a piercingly scrutinising gaze; the slightly opened mouth indicates scepticism. The page-filling dimensions of the portrait and the strongly etched lines invest the print with a monumental expressive power.