  About the Artwork
  
  
  Max Beckmann often painted imagined arrangements of objects, inspired by the observed world. This still life foregrounds two differently shaped vases serving as receptacles for lilies or irises whose bright green leaves contrast with their intensely white blooms. Beckmann’s deliberate color juxtapositions continue in the green bowl of fiery red fruits and the red panel below the green patterned wall. The stark outlines of the flowers, vases, and fruits harmonize with the bold black mullions between window panes and the rhythmic quality of what appears to be a musical keyboard in the background.   

In 1937, Beckmann fled Nazi-governed Germany to Amsterdam, hoping to eventually immigrate to the United States — a plan realized only after the war ended. He arrived in 1947 in St. Louis, where he then lived and worked for two years. There, he started this painting and finished it after his relocation to New York.
  
  
  Title
  Still Life with Lilies
  
  
  Artwork Date
  1949
  
  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: 37 1/4 × 24 inches (94.6 × 61 cm)
  Framed: 43 1/2 × 31 7/8 × 2 5/8 inches (110.5 × 81 × 6.7 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Paintings
  
  
  Department
  European Modern Art to 1970
  
  
  Credit
  Gift of Dr. and Mrs. George Kamperman
  
  
  
  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.
  
  
  
  50.20
  
  
  Copyright
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