Lido
- Date
- 1924
- Material
- Oil on canvas
- made in
- Frankfurt am Main, Hessen state, Germany, Europe
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- Modern and Contemporary Art
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 28 1/2 x 35 5/8 in. (72.4 x 90.5 cm)
framed: 34 15/16 in. x 42 in. x 2 in. (88.7 x 106.7 x 5.1 cm) - Credit Line
- Bequest of Morton D. May
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 842:1983
NOTES
A white-capped woman in profile and a figure in a striped bathing suit walk along the beach, or lido, in opposite directions. The bathers behind them are tossed around in the sea, their limbs jutting out of the water at strange angles. Max Beckmann painted this work as a memory of a 1924 vacation at Pirano on the Italian coast. The disquieting atmosphere of the picture suggests the artist’s future interest in Surrealism, which focused on the imagery of dreams. For the critic Curt Glaser, this work represented the “fantasy of the real.”
Provenance
Max Beckmann (1884-1950), Frankfurt am Main, Germany [1]
I. B. Neumann (1887-1961), Berlin, Germany, purchased from the artist [2]
Heinrich Fromm (1886-1959), Munich, Germany [3]
by 1946 -
Galerie Günther Franke [Günther Franke (1900–1976)], Munich, Germany [4]
- 1956
Helga Fietz (1907-1958), Icking, Germany, gift from Günther Franke [5]
1956 - 1983
Morton D. May (1914-1983), St. Louis, MO, USA, purchased from Helga Fietz with Günther Franke acting as her agent [6]
1983 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Morton D. May [7]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is Göpel's catalogue raisonné, cat. no. 234 [Göpel, Erhard and Barbara Göpel: "Max Beckmann: Katalog der Gemälde". Bern: Kornfeld & Cie., 1976]. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[1] Max Beckmann kept lists of most of his paintings which often included the dates that they were worked on and notes on who purchased them. This painting appears on Beckmann's Frankfurt list as number 11. The artist noted that it was completed on December 7, 1924 and purchased by his art dealer I. B. Neumann (also known as J. B. Neumann).
[2] See note [1].
[3] Heinrich Fromm was a wealthy hops dealer from Augsburg, who acted as financial backer to the Graphisches Kabinett, Munich, with which Günther Franke was also involved. Fromm held a significant amount of the gallery stock in exchange for his investments. In 1935, the business cooperation between Fromm and Günther Franke came to an end. In 1939, Fromm emigrated to London [Billeter, Felix. "Max Beckmann und Günther Franke." München: Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Max Beckmann Archiv, 2000, p. 31]. Most likely, this painting transferred back into the Franke gallery stock at this point.
[4] See note [3].
[5] Helga Fietz, née Ebert, was the first wife of Günther Franke.
[6] Morton D. May purchased the painting on June 15, 1956 from Helga Fietz [May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum].
[7] 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.
I. B. Neumann (1887-1961), Berlin, Germany, purchased from the artist [2]
Heinrich Fromm (1886-1959), Munich, Germany [3]
by 1946 -
Galerie Günther Franke [Günther Franke (1900–1976)], Munich, Germany [4]
- 1956
Helga Fietz (1907-1958), Icking, Germany, gift from Günther Franke [5]
1956 - 1983
Morton D. May (1914-1983), St. Louis, MO, USA, purchased from Helga Fietz with Günther Franke acting as her agent [6]
1983 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Morton D. May [7]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is Göpel's catalogue raisonné, cat. no. 234 [Göpel, Erhard and Barbara Göpel: "Max Beckmann: Katalog der Gemälde". Bern: Kornfeld & Cie., 1976]. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[1] Max Beckmann kept lists of most of his paintings which often included the dates that they were worked on and notes on who purchased them. This painting appears on Beckmann's Frankfurt list as number 11. The artist noted that it was completed on December 7, 1924 and purchased by his art dealer I. B. Neumann (also known as J. B. Neumann).
[2] See note [1].
[3] Heinrich Fromm was a wealthy hops dealer from Augsburg, who acted as financial backer to the Graphisches Kabinett, Munich, with which Günther Franke was also involved. Fromm held a significant amount of the gallery stock in exchange for his investments. In 1935, the business cooperation between Fromm and Günther Franke came to an end. In 1939, Fromm emigrated to London [Billeter, Felix. "Max Beckmann und Günther Franke." München: Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Max Beckmann Archiv, 2000, p. 31]. Most likely, this painting transferred back into the Franke gallery stock at this point.
[4] See note [3].
[5] Helga Fietz, née Ebert, was the first wife of Günther Franke.
[6] Morton D. May purchased the painting on June 15, 1956 from Helga Fietz [May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum].
[7] 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.