Max Beckmann

His traumatic experiences as a medical orderly in WWI caused his style to shift from academic realism to distorted figures and space.¹

In the 1920s, he was associated with New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit), opposing emotionalism with brutal realism and social criticism.¹

In 1925, he taught at the Städelschule in Frankfurt and enjoyed great success, receiving the Honorary Empire Prize for German Art in 1927.¹

He fled to Amsterdam in 1937 and lived in exile for ten years, creating powerful triptychs that stand as a summation of his art.¹

The Nazi government labeled him a 'cultural Bolshevik' and confiscated over 500 of his works, displaying them in the Degenerate Art exhibition in 1937.¹

He often used musical instruments as symbols; for instance, a horn was used like a telescope to explore the surrounding darkness.¹

In 1947, he moved to the US to teach at Washington University in St. Louis, where he met his significant patron, Morton D. May.¹

He died of a heart attack in Manhattan in 1950 while on his way to see one of his own paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.¹

His 1950 work 'Falling Man' is considered a reflection on mortality and eerily predictive of the events of the September 11 attacks.¹