Max Beckmann
Max Beckmann was born in Leipzig in 1884. In the environment of the avant-garde of his time Max Beckmann had an effect of a solitaire. While during the beginning of the Modern the art step by step transferred to the complete abstractness, Beckmann entered the artistic tradition and quite consciously referred to the art of the passing 19th century.
A recurring motif of his work was a see, which he called as “his friend” in the later interviews. At the beginning he shaped it as a mysterious energetic space of existential experience. At the times of national socialism he turned to the motif of freedom, awakening and escape.
In 1910 Beckmann was chosen as the youngest board member of the Berliner Secession. Later his art was proclaimed as “decadent” by the national socialists. Today Beckmann is known as the most famous representative of the German expressionism. His works are presented in many prominent museums of modern and reach the highest prices at the auctions.