Studio (Female Nude and Sculpture)
- Date
- 1946
- Material
- Oil on linen
- made in
- Amsterdam, Noord-Holland province, Netherlands, Europe
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- Modern and Contemporary Art
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 215
- Dimensions
- 35 3/4 x 53 1/4 in. (90.8 x 135.3 cm)
framed: 46 7/8 x 64 5/8 in. (119.1 x 164.1 cm) - Credit Line
- Bequest of Morton D. May
- Rights
- © 2023 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
- Object Number
- 857:1983
NOTES
Max Beckmann represented a sensual, blond nude wearing only a red necklace and orange bands on her left wrist and right ankle. She faces a sculpture of a man, probably made by the artist himself. Beckmann’s work comments on the relationship between the sexes through his contrasting treatment of the female and male figures. Creamy pinks and whites make up the flesh of the woman, with sweeping curves forming her body. The male is depicted as an angular, fragmented torso, painted in chalky black. Beckmann used a linen bed sheet for the composition, since canvas was scarce after World War II (1939–45).
Provenance
Max Beckmann (1884-1950), Amsterdam, Netherlands; New York, NY, USA [1]
J. B. Neumann (1887-1961), New York, NY [2]
- 1949
Buchholz Gallery, New York, NY [3]
1949 - 1983
Morton D. May (1914-1983), St. Louis, MO, purchased from the Buchholz Gallery [4]
1983 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Morton D. May [5]
Notes:
[1] Max Beckmann kept lists of most of his paintings which often included the dates that they were worked on and later notes on who purchased them. This painting appears on Beckmann's Amsterdam 1946 list as number 6. Beckmann notes that he began the painting on February 22 and finished it on June 15, 1946 [Beckmann Estate Berlin].
[2] Beckmann's picture list notes Neumann as the initial owner [see note [1]]. Göpel's catalogue raisonné, cat. no. 719, cites art dealer Herbert Tannenbaum as owning the painting after Neumann and before the Buchholz Gallery, but no evidence could be found to support this claim [Göpel, Erhard and Barbara Göpel. "Max Beckmann: Katalog der Gemälde." Bern: Kornfeld & Cie., 1976].
[3] Per invoice from Buchholz Gallery to Morton D. May dated November 18, 1949 [May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum].
[4] See note [3].
[5] Last Will and Testament of M. D. May dated June 11, 1982 [copy, May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum]. Minutes of the Acquisitions and Loans Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, September 20, 1983.
J. B. Neumann (1887-1961), New York, NY [2]
- 1949
Buchholz Gallery, New York, NY [3]
1949 - 1983
Morton D. May (1914-1983), St. Louis, MO, purchased from the Buchholz Gallery [4]
1983 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Morton D. May [5]
Notes:
[1] Max Beckmann kept lists of most of his paintings which often included the dates that they were worked on and later notes on who purchased them. This painting appears on Beckmann's Amsterdam 1946 list as number 6. Beckmann notes that he began the painting on February 22 and finished it on June 15, 1946 [Beckmann Estate Berlin].
[2] Beckmann's picture list notes Neumann as the initial owner [see note [1]]. Göpel's catalogue raisonné, cat. no. 719, cites art dealer Herbert Tannenbaum as owning the painting after Neumann and before the Buchholz Gallery, but no evidence could be found to support this claim [Göpel, Erhard and Barbara Göpel. "Max Beckmann: Katalog der Gemälde." Bern: Kornfeld & Cie., 1976].
[3] Per invoice from Buchholz Gallery to Morton D. May dated November 18, 1949 [May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum].
[4] See note [3].
[5] Last Will and Testament of M. D. May dated June 11, 1982 [copy, May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum]. Minutes of the Acquisitions and Loans Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, September 20, 1983.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.