  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 case 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 withdrawl 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..."
  
  
  Title
  Self-Portrait in Olive and Brown
  
  
  Artwork Date
  1945
  
  Artist
  Max Beckmann
  
  
  
  Life Dates
  1884-1950
  
  
  
  
  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  German
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
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  Medium
  Oil on canvas
  
  
  Dimensions
  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)
  
  
  Classification
  Paintings
  
  
  Department
  European Modern Art to 1970
  
  
  Credit
  Gift of Robert H. Tannahill
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  55.410
  
  
  Copyright
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