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Details
- Other Titles
- Old woman in ermine
Old lady with daughter - Alternative title
- Alte dame mit Tochter
- Place where the work was made
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Amsterdam
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The Netherlands
- Date
- 1946
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 150.5 x 80.5 cm stretcher; 172.4 x 102.9 x 6.5 cm frame
- Signature & date
Signed and dated l.c., black oil "Beckmann / ... 46".
- Credit
- Purchased with funds provided by the Art Gallery of New South Wales Foundation 1987
- Location
- South Building, ground level, 20th-century galleries
- Accession number
- 400.1987
- Copyright
- © Max Beckmann/Bild-Kunst. Licensed by Copyright Agency
- Artist information
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Max Beckmann
Works in the collection
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About
Max Beckmann painted enigmatic, unsettling works often suggestive of a doomed world. His early academic painting style was transformed following his experiences as a medical orderly in the First World War. By the 1930s, as the National Socialists assumed power in Germany, Beckmann’s figures had become distorted and disturbed. He left Germany permanently in 1937 after his works were included in the 'Degenerate Art' exhibition staged by the Nazis as an attack on contemporary culture.
'Mother and daughter' reflects the anxieties of this epoch. The figures are confined, the porthole suggesting they are below deck, in a cabin at sea. Through his experience of escaping Nazi terror, Beckmann wrote of the metaphors of such journeys as, ‘Sailing ad infinitum with no foothold, no objective’. The old woman’s anguished features may refer to the horrors of Nazi death camps. Her presence signals a haunted past and embodies tragic warning. The young figure, uneasy, senses this.
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Exhibition history
Shown in 11 exhibitions
Beckmann, Buchholz Gallery Curt Valentin, New York, 17 Nov 1947–06 Dec 1947
Seven decades, 1895-1965: crosscurrents in modern art, Galleria Odyssia, New York, New York, 26 Apr 1966–21 May 1966
Twelve paintings of women by Max Beckmann, Catherine Viviano Gallery, New York, 07 Feb 1967–04 Mar 1967
Max Beckmann: paintings & sculpture, Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York, 17 Oct 1981–19 Nov 1981
Max Beckmann: paintings and works on paper, Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York, 03 Feb 1984–29 Feb 1984
Max Beckmann, Alpha Gallery, Boston, 05 May 1984–30 May 1984
Works by Max Beckmann, Nassau County Museum of Fine Art, Roslyn, 21 Oct 1984–13 Jan 1985
aus privaten Sammlungen, Galerie Beyeler, Switzerland, 08 Feb 1986–19 Apr 1986
(On loan to the National Gallery of Australia), National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 01 May 2010–31 Aug 2010
MOTHER!, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark, 27 Jan 2021–30 May 2021
20th-Century galleries, ground level (rehang), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 20 Aug 2022–2023
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Bibliography
Referenced in 21 publications
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Alpha Gallery, Max Beckmann, Boston, 1984, (illus.).
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Art Gallery of New South Wales, Great gifts, great patrons: an exhibition celebrating private patronage of the Gallery, Sydney, 1994, (colour illus.). no catalogue numbers
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Max Beckmann, Diary, Unknown, 1946. 1946: 30 April, 7 May, 30 July, 10 August, 11 September, 3 October, 14 November
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Peter Beckmann and Peter Selz, Max Beckmann. Sichtbares und Unsichtbares, Stuttgart, 1965, 101 (colour illus.).
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Buchholz Gallery Curt Valentin, Beckmann, New York, 1947, (illus.).
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Edmund Capon AM, OBE, Art Gallery of New South Wales Foundation Annual Report 1997, Sydney, 1997, 12 (colour illus.).
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Catherine Viviano Gallery, Twelve paintings of women by Max Beckmann, New York, 1967, (illus.). cat.no. 8
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Renée Free, AGNSW Collections, 'The Western Heritage, Renaissance to Twentieth Century', pg. 108-172, Sydney, 1994, 168 (colour illus.).
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Renée Free, Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, 'European', pg. 36-56, Sydney, 1988, 52 (colour illus.).
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Renee Free, Look, 'Acquisitions: Old Woman in Ermine', Heidelberg, Oct 1987, 9 (colour illus.).
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Galerie Beyeler, aus privaten Sammlungen, Basel, 1986, (colour illus.). cat.no. 4
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Erhard Göpel and Barbara Göpel, Max Beckmann: Katalog der Gemälde, Band I, Bern, 1976, 437. cat.no. 730
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Erhard Göpel and Barbara Göpel, Max Beckmann: Katalog der Gemälde, Band II, Bern, 1976, Tafel 268 (illus.). cat.no. 730
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Grace Borgenicht Gallery, Max Beckmann: paintings and works on paper, New York, 1984, (illus.).
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Grace Borgenicht Gallery, Max Beckmann: paintings & sculpture, New York, 1981, (illus.).
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Bruce James, Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, 'Western Collection: Paintings and Sculpture', pg. 17-77, Sydney, 1999, 62 (colour illus.).
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Simon Kent, The Sydney Morning Herald, 'Gallery boss jumps to Old Woman's defence', Sydney, 25 Aug 1987, 7 (illus).
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Nassau County Museum of Fine Art, Works by Max Beckmann, Roslyn, 1984, (illus.).
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Fritz Neugass, Die Weltkunst, article, Munich, 1967, 590.
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Peter Selz, Seven decades 1895-1965: crosscurrents in modern art, California, 1966, (illus.). cat.no. 263
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Michael Wardell, Look, 'Foundation building', pg.14-17, Sydney, Sep 2004, 15.
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Provenance
Max Beckmann, New York/New York/United States of America
Buchholz Gallery Curt Valentin, 04 Feb 1947-1955, New York/New York/United States of America, with Buchholz Gallery 1947-1955
Mathilde Quappi Beckmann, 27 Dec 1950-1967, New York/New York/United States of America, by descent
Catherine Viviano Gallery, 1955-1967, New York/New York/United States of America, with Catherine Viviano Gallery 1955 - approx. 1967; in commission
Private Collection, 1976, New York/New York/United States of America, Listed in 'Max Beckmann: Katalog der Gemälde' Band I, 1976, pg. 437, as New York, Privatbesitz
Grace Borgenicht Gallery, Oct 1981-1985, New York/New York/United States of America, by Oct 1981; in commission. Purchased by Galerie Beyeler from Grace Borgenicht Gallery 1985
Galerie Beyeler, 1985-01 May 1987, Basel/Switzerland, Purchased by the AGNSW from Galerie Beyeler 1987. Galerie Beyeler stock no. 10714
