German Expressionism: The Graphic Impulse

Curator, Starr Figura: This is a monumental portfolio by Max Beckman called Hell. The title refers to the social and political situation in Berlin in 1919. The economic situation is not good. There are shortages of food and other supplies in Germany. There are different political forces fighting both with words and with actions in the streets.

And like a lot of Beckmann's work, there is a strain of autobiography that runs through it. Night shows a scene in a family attic with the family being murdered and tortured by intruders, and there's some who believe that the figure on the left being hanged may be a self-portrait. And that the woman in the center may be his wife, and that the child at the right has some features of Beckman's son Peter.

The compositions are very typical for Beckmann in that they're very crowded and they're very compressed, which enhances this sense of discordance and claustrophobia and chaos. And you'll notice that each image has a clearly defined frame outlining it, and that in most instances there's either a figure or some other piece of the picture that juts outside the frame as though something's about to explode or whatever's happening just cannot be contained.

Director, Glenn Lowry: In the early 1920s, inflation followed by hyperinflation led to a boom in the art market. As a German Mark became virtually worthless, people invested in commodities such as. Prints were especially popular because they could be produced less extensively and in greater quantities, known as additions, and more collectors could afford to buy them. These are some of the reasons why print became the dominant medium at that time.