About the Artwork
Max Beckmann’s self-possessed gaze confronts the viewer. He painted about eighty self-portraits over the course of his career, taking stock of his life and presenting himself variously as a circus master, musician, Pierrot, acrobat, clown, or sailor. Here, Beckmann positions himself in front of an easel to assert his identity as a painter. The painting’s title refers to the olive and brown hues with which he modeled his face, an oval defined with thickly applied black outlines, which also form the contours of his shirt and jacket. The artist’s mouth is wide and downturned; the light cast from above illuminates his powerful skull with its broad forehead, both mature and worn. In contrast to a detailed articulation of his features, the abstract background is only summarily described, amplifying the artist’s imposing physical presence.
Beckmann spent the years of World War II living in exile in Amsterdam after he had escaped in 1937 from Nazi Germany. He started painting this image after the withdrawal of German troops from occupied Amsterdam at the end of the war. He completed it on November 29, 1945, when he noted in his diary: “Germany is dying, et moi –– self-portrait 1945 finished . . .”
Self-Portrait in Olive and Brown
1945
Max Beckmann
1884-1950
German
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Oil on canvas
Unframed: 23 3/4 × 19 5/8 inches (60.3 × 49.8 cm) Framed: 31 5/8 × 27 1/4 × 2 3/8 inches (80.3 × 69.2 × 6 cm)
Paintings
European Modern Art to 1970
Gift of Robert H. Tannahill
55.410
Restricted
Markings
Signed and dated, lower right: Beckmann, A 45
Provenance
Robert H. Tannahill [1893-1969] (Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, USA);1955-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
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Provenance pageExhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Max Beckmann Paintings from 1939-1946. Exh. cat.,Buchholz Gallery. New York, 1946, no. 12.
Max Beckmann. Exh. cat., Albright Art Gallery. Buffalo, 1947, no. 8.
Max Beckmann. Exh. cat., Benno Reifenberg and Wilhelm Wausenstein. Munich, 1949, no. 566 (pl. 74).
European Masters of Our Time. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts. Boston, 1957, no. 7.
Max Beckmann. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts. Boston, 1964, no. 59.
Bulletin of the DIA 35, 1 (1955-1956): pp. 18-19 (ill.).
Gehardus, M. and D. Expressionismus. Freiburg, Germany, 1976, p. 107, no. 73 (ill.).
Uhr, Horst. Masterpieces of German Expressionism at the Detroit Institute of Arts. New York, 1982, p. 44 (ill.).
Zenser, Hildegard. Max Beckmann: Selbstbildnisse. Munich, 1984, p. 151 (pl. 51).
Zenser, Hildegard. Max Beckman. Munich (fig. 50).
Masterpieces from the Detroit Institute of Arts. Exh. cat., Bunkamura Museum of Art. Tokyo, 1989, no. 85 (ill.).
Rainbird, Sean, ed. Max Beckmann. Exh. cat., Musee National d'Art Moderne. Paris, 2002, p. 237.
Cumming, Robert. ART A Field Guide. New York, 2001, p. 27 (ill.).
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Credit Line for Reproduction
Max Beckmann, Self-Portrait in Olive and Brown, 1945, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of Robert H. Tannahill, 55.410.
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