  About the Artwork
  
  
  Beckmann's artistic production probes the nature of the human condition. Beginning with the horrors of World War I and a series of crises Beckmann endured personally, his outlook grew increasingly pessimistic. In the early 1930s Beckmann was forced to give up his teaching position by political forces opposed to his modern and confrontational style. By the late 1930s intense persecution forced Beckmann to flee Germany for Amsterdam where he withstood the hardships of World War II. His jarring style enhances the brutal theme of this watercolor the savagery of humans. It is a preliminary study for a painting (Stephen Lackner Collection, Santa Barbara, California) In which the subject Is transformed into one of outright cannibalism. Harsh colors, strafing black lines, and crammed fantastic figures in frenzied spaces are characteristics of Beckmann's style.
  
  
  Title
  Sacrificial Meal
  
  
  Artwork Date
  1947
  
  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
  Watercolor, pen and ink on paper with a laid-like texture
  
  
  Dimensions
  Sheet: 19 3/4 × 12 1/4 inches (50.2 × 31.1 cm)
  Framed: 24 1/8 × 30 1/8 × 7/8 inches (61.3 × 76.5 × 2.2 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Drawings
  
  
  Department
  Prints, Drawings &amp; Photographs
  
  
  Credit
  Bequest of John S. Newberry
  
  
  
  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.
  
  
  
  65.174
  
  
  Copyright
  Restricted
