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Franz Marc, German, 1880–1916; Animal Composition II (Tierkomposition II), 1913; gouache and watercolor; image: 17 3/4 x 14 1/2 inches, sheet: 14 1/2 x 17 3/4 inches; Saint Louis Art Museum, Gift of Morton D. May 374:1955

Day & Dream in Modern Germany, 1914–1945

This audio guide presents a selection of work that questions the relationship among art, the visible world, and contemporary society. It features prints, photographs, drawings, and watercolors by some of the most celebrated artists of their generation selected from the Museum’s collection.

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    AUDIO GUIDE TRANSCRIPT

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Self Portrait, from the portfolio Day and Dream, 1946

Max Beckmann, Germany

  • Speaker

    Melissa Venator 
    Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellow in Modern Art 
    Saint Louis Art Museum

    So, this exhibition, Day & Dream, was inspired by this portfolio, Max Beckmann’s Day and Dream, which includes 15 lithographs. When I first saw it, I was so entranced by the intricate stories it tells. Each print is its own visual world—there’s no linear narrative that unites them—but they combine real and imaginary motifs to create these appealing hybrid images.

    I’ll show you what I mean. Look at the second plate, which is titled Weather-vane. It depicts an actual weather vane in the shape of a mermaid with a trident that was installed on a roof across from Max Beckmann’s studio in Amsterdam. So, every time he looked out his window, he saw this weather vane. In the print, the mermaid looks strangely animated, like she’s about to harpoon a bird with her spear.

    The funniest print in this series is plate 6, titled I don’t want to eat my Soup. It shows a scene that many visitors who are parents might relate to. A mother is desperately trying to feed her son, who is refusing to eat by burying his face in his high chair. In the background, the grandmother is knitting. This is a reference to a popular German children’s story about a stubborn boy named Kaspar who will not eat his soup. His parents try everything, but still he refuses. And in true German fashion, after five days refusing to eat his soup, the boy dies. Now clearly, children’s stories have changed over the years!

    These backstories are funny and insightful, but you don’t really need to know them to enjoy the image worlds that Beckmann creates in Day and Dream. This was his last print portfolio, and it’s rare to have the entire portfolio on view at once, so, I hope you enjoy it.

  • Gallery Text

    Max Beckmann,
    born 1884, Leipzig, Germany
    died 1950, New York, New York

    Day and Dream, 1946
    portfolio of 15 lithographs
    published by Curt Valentin, New York

    What I want to show in my work is the idea that hides itself behind so-called reality. I am seeking the bridge that leads from the visible to the invisible. 
    —Max Beckmann, “On My Painting,” 1938

    In Day and Dream, scenes from Max Beckmann’s exile in Amsterdam combine with dream imagery to create a fantasy world. It dates from an eventful time in his life. World War II (1938–1945) had ended, and Beckmann was looking for a new home. A New York art dealer’s commission for Day and Dream was an opportunity to make connections in the United States. The next year, Beckmann moved to St. Louis to teach at Washington University.

    Neumann/Frumkin Collection, purchased with funds provided by the bequest of Morton D. May, by exchange, the bequest of Florene M. Schoenborn in honor of her father, David May, by exchange, Emily Rauh Pulitzer, Museum Shop Fund, Mr. and Mrs. Lester A. Crancer Jr., Phoebe and Mark Weil, The Sidney S. and Sadie Cohen Print Purchase Fund, Mr. and Mrs. David C. Farrell, the Julian and Hope Edison Print Fund, gift of George Rickey, by exchange, bequest of Helen K. Baer, by exchange, Suzanne and Jerry Sincoff, Museum Shop Fund, by exchange, gift of the Buchholz Gallery, by exchange, Museum Purchase, by exchange, Jerome F. and Judith Weiss Levy, bequest of Horace M. Swope, by exchange, and funds given by Fielding Lewis Holmes through the 1988 Art Enrichment Fund, by exchange  143:2002.1-.15

Learn More

Weather-vane

Max Beckmann

Weather-vane

I don't want to eat my Soup

Max Beckmann

I Don't Want to Eat My Soup

Credits

Max Beckmann, German, 1884–1950; published by Curt Valentin, German, 1902–1952; Self Portrait, plate 1 from the portfolio Day and Dream, 1946; lithograph; image: 12 1/2 x 10 3/8 inches, sheet: 15 13/16 x 11 13/16 inches; Saint Louis Art Museum, Neumann/Frumkin Collection, purchased with funds provided by the bequest of Morton D. May, by exchange, the bequest of Florene M. Schoenborn in honor of her father, David May, by exchange, Emily Rauh Pulitzer, Museum Shop Fund, Mr. and Mrs. Lester A. Crancer Jr., Phoebe and Mark Weil, The Sidney S. and Sadie Cohen Print Purchase Fund, Mr. and Mrs. David C. Farrell, the Julian and Hope Edison Print Fund, gift of George Rickey, by exchange, bequest of Helen K. Baer, by exchange, Suzanne and Jerry Sincoff, Museum Shop Fund, by exchange, gift of the Buchholz Gallery, by exchange, Museum Purchase, by exchange, Jerome F. and Judith Weiss Levy, bequest of Horace M. Swope, by exchange, and funds given by Fielding Lewis Holmes through the 1988 Art Enrichment Fund, by exchange 143:2002.1

Max Beckmann, German, 1884–1950; published by Curt Valentin, German, 1902–1952; Weather-vane, plate 2 from the portfolio Day and Dream, 1946; lithograph; image: 14 5/8 x 10 3/4 inches, sheet: 15 13/16 x 11 13/16 inches; Saint Louis Art Museum, Neumann/Frumkin Collection, purchased with funds provided by the bequest of Morton D. May, by exchange, the bequest of Florene M. Schoenborn in honor of her father, David May, by exchange, Emily Rauh Pulitzer, Museum Shop Fund, Mr. and Mrs. Lester A. Crancer Jr., Phoebe and Mark Weil, The Sidney S. and Sadie Cohen Print Purchase Fund, Mr. and Mrs. David C. Farrell, the Julian and Hope Edison Print Fund, gift of George Rickey, by exchange, bequest of Helen K. Baer, by exchange, Suzanne and Jerry Sincoff, Museum Shop Fund, by exchange, gift of the Buchholz Gallery, by exchange, Museum Purchase, by exchange, Jerome F. and Judith Weiss Levy, bequest of Horace M. Swope, by exchange, and funds given by Fielding Lewis Holmes through the 1988 Art Enrichment Fund, by exchange 143:2002.2

Max Beckmann, German, 1884–1950; published by Curt Valentin, German, 1902–1952; I don't want to eat my Soup, plate 6 from the portfolio Day and Dream, 1946; lithograph; image: 10 1/2 x 15 3/8 inches, sheet: 11 3/4 x 15 13/16 inches; Saint Louis Art Museum, Neumann/Frumkin Collection, purchased with funds provided by the bequest of Morton D. May, by exchange, the bequest of Florene M. Schoenborn in honor of her father, David May, by exchange, Emily Rauh Pulitzer, Museum Shop Fund, Mr. and Mrs. Lester A. Crancer Jr., Phoebe and Mark Weil, The Sidney S. and Sadie Cohen Print Purchase Fund, Mr. and Mrs. David C. Farrell, the Julian and Hope Edison Print Fund, gift of George Rickey, by exchange, bequest of Helen K. Baer, by exchange, Suzanne and Jerry Sincoff, Museum Shop Fund, by exchange, gift of the Buchholz Gallery, by exchange, Museum Purchase, by exchange, Jerome F. and Judith Weiss Levy, bequest of Horace M. Swope, by exchange, and funds given by Fielding Lewis Holmes through the 1988 Art Enrichment Fund, by exchange 143:2002.6

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