The ''Self Portrait Yellow-Pink'' by the German artist
Max Beckmann
Max Carl Friedrich Beckmann (February 12, 1884 – December 27, 1950) was a German painter, drawing, draftsman, printmaker, sculpture, sculptor, and writer. Although he is classified as an Expressionist artist, he rejected both the term and the m ...
was painted in 1943 in the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. In December 2022, it was sold by the auctioneer Grisebach for more than €20 million (US $20.7 million), making it the most expensive painting sold in Germany to date.
Background
Together with his wife Mathilde, Max Beckmann went into exile to the Netherlands in 1937 after his works were identified as
Degenerate Art by the
Nazi government.
The two pretended to be vacationing but really were trying to leave for the United States, which they would accomplish only after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, in 1947.
In 1943 Beckmann painted the ''Self Portrait Yellow-Pink'' in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
, while awaiting a visa to the United States.
He painted the portrait for his wife Mathilde “Quappi“ von Kaulbach, who assisted him throughout their marriage by keeping track of his
catalogue raisonnee.
Description
Beckmann depicted himself standing with crossed arms in front of a mirror in a red frame.
The dress he wears is held in yellow and seemingly has fur on it.
In contrast to his earlier self-portraits which were painted in dark colors, this one was painted in bright colors.
Provenance
The self-portrait was presented by Max Beckmann to his wife Mathilde, who kept it until her death in 1986.
In 1996 it came into the possession of a Swiss private collector.
Auction
That the portrait was on the market was quite a surprise, and in Germany there was no comparable work of Beckmann on sale since the end of World War II.
At the auction its potential price was estimated between 20 and 30 millions euros.
The auction house Villa Grisebach in Berlin sold it in December 2022 for €20 millions.
It was the highest price for a painting sold in Germany and the second highest price for a painting by Beckmann.
It was purchased by
Reinhold Würth
Reinhold Würth (born 20 April 1935) is a German businessman and art collector. In 1954, at the age of 19, he took over his father's wholesale screw business and built it into the Würth Group, which posted €19.9 billion (US$21.68 billion) in ...
, a construction entrepreneur of the
Würth
The Würth Group (, ) is a worldwide wholesaler of fasteners, screws and screw accessories. Würth expanded its range and today offers a full range of business equipment for craft businesses in a kind of supermarket of its own. Würth offers dow ...
company.
It was welcomed as a good addition to the other Beckmanns in the Würth collection.
The portrait was said to be exhibited in the company's art collection and made accessible to the public for free.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Self-Portrait Yellow-Pink
1943 paintings
Paintings by Max Beckmann
Self-portraits