516 - Max Beckmann (1884 Leipzig – New York 1950)

Max Beckmann (1884 Leipzig – New York 1950) Dutch Bicycle Path Oil on canvas. (1940/42). Approx. 71.5 x 48.5 cm. Signed, inscribed, and dated “A(msterdam) 43” at the bottom center. Max Beckmann lists the paintings he created starting in 1934 in his Sketchbook 43, including the work “Dutch Bicycle Path.” His wife Quappi writes in an undated letter to the American collector Morton D. May that the painting was completed on November 10, 1942, although the date on the work itself was not added until 1943. Göpel/Tiedemann MB-G 615. • A painting from the period of Beckmann’s migration to the Netherlands, which proved fruitful for him despite the repression • Beckmann repainted the work to make the bike path the central theme of the painting • Despite the uncertain circumstances, he creates a painting full of optimism with vibrant shades of green and expressive brushwork Max and Mathilde Beckmann are cycling across a field. Ahead of them is a third cyclist; beside them, a boat bobs along the canal. The fields are bordered by the water and the forest in the background of the painting; we observe the scene from above. Max Beckmann’s “Dutch Bicycle Path,” however, is more than just a depiction of a Sunday ride in the countryside, as a look at the painting’s genesis and the artist’s biography reveals: The painting was created following a bicycle outing the artist took with his wife on May 4, 1940. On October 3, he noted in his diary: “Hilversum forest landscape finished.” (See also the entry in the 1940 list of paintings.) On July 7, 1942, the couple set out once again on a bicycle tour in Hilversum, after which the painting underwent a revision (see also the entry in the 1942 list of paintings). It was likely initially conceived more clearly as a “Forest Landscape,” but the forest motif was subsequently pushed into the background in favor of the bike path. Beckmann is thus directly processing his lived experience here—outings with his wife are translated into the painting. However, the fact that the Beckmanns were in the Netherlands in 1940 was not due to a longing for extended bike rides along the kingdom’s dikes. Max and Mathilde Beckmann had fled Germany. Beckmann’s works were confiscated, and his art was denounced as “degenerate.” But the political climate in the Netherlands was also growing harsher; here, too, the henchmen of Nazi Germany would soon be at work. Beckmann was able to earn a living through a network of friends who supported the couple and supplied paintings to collectors—including those in Germany. From 1955 onward, the work was part of the renowned Beckmann collection of Morten D. May in St. Louis, USA. From 1983 onward, it was owned by Margie Wolcott May, also in St. Louis. Bibliography: Reifenberg, Benno, and Hausenstein, Wilhelm, *Max Beckmann*, Munich 1949, p. 77, no. 460; MoMA Curt Valentin Papers – VII.C.1 – Statements A–L: Dec. 5, 1955: Sale to Morton D. May for $500 (Inventory 11058); Von Bormann, Beatrice, “Landscapes of Exile—Max Beckmann’s Dutch Years 1937–1947,” in: Exhibition catalog Max Beckmann. The Landscapes, Kunstmuseum Basel 2011/12, pp. 45ff., color ill. 26. Exhibitions: Max Beckmann, Chicago Art Center, 1955, cat. no. 4; Max Beckmann. Retrospective Exhibition, City Art Museum, St. Louis 1956, no cat.; Paintings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Morton D. May, Pius XII Memorial Library, St. Louis, 1960, cat. no. 68, ill. (“Holland Landscape with Road”); German Expressionist Paintings from the Collection of Mr. & Mrs. Morton D. May, Denver Art Museum, Denver, and other locations, 1960–1962; The Morton D. May Collection of 20th-Century German Masters, Marlborough Gerson Gallery, New York/City Art Museum, St. Louis, 1970, cat. no. 34, ill.; Five Students of Max Beckmann, Washington University, St. Louis, 1984; Max Beckmann: Landscape as the Other, Kunsthalle Hamburg, among others, 1998–99, cat. no. 66, color ill. p. 83; In Focus: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. A Private Collection from Hamburg, Kunsthalle Hamburg, et al., 2001, p. 124, cat. no. 5, color ill. p. 144, with a label on the back of the stretcher; Zeit im Blick. Felix Nussbaum and Modernism, Felix-Nussbaum-Haus, Osnabrück 2004/05, cat. no. 44, color ill. p. 84. Provenance: Karl Buchholz, Berlin, no earlier than November 1942 (presumably purchased); Karl-Heinz Brandt, probably fall 1944 through January 1945 (stored due to the war); Rosgarten Museum, Konstanz, 1945 (in safekeeping); Marie Louise Buchholz, Überlingen, 1945 through April 1948 (in safekeeping); Karl Buchholz, Madrid, April 1948–1949, acquired from the aforementioned; Buchholz Gallery Curt Valentin, New York, with a label on the back of the stretcher, probably 1949–1955, acquired from the aforementioned; Morton D. May, St. Louis, 1955–1983, acquired from the aforementioned; Margie Wolcott May Collection, St. Louis, 1983–1986, inherited from the aforementioned; Christie’s