Portrait of Ludwig Berger

- 1950
Max Beckmann (1884-1950), Amsterdam, The Netherlands; New York, NY, USA [1]

1950 - 1956
Mathilde Q. Beckmann, New York, NY, by inheritance from the artist

1956 - 1983
Morton D. May (1914-1983), St. Louis, MO, purchased from Catherine Viviano Gallery, New York, NY, on consignment from Mathilde Q. Beckmann [2]

1983 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Morton D. May [3]


Notes:
[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 1945 Amsterdam list as number 20. Beckmann notes that he completed the canvas on October 9, 1945. In parantheses he adds the name "Valentin." From 1946 onwards, the painting was on consignment with the Buchholz Gallery (Curt Valentin), New York, NY. In 1946, the portrait was included in an exhibition at Buchholz Gallery ["Beckmann: His Recent Work from 1939 to 1945." New York: Buchholz Gallery, 1946, cat. no. 15]. The sitter, German writer and film director Ludwig Berger, saw his portrait at the gallery, but did not purchase the painting [letter from Ludwig Berger to Max Beckmann, dated March 31, 1946, Max Beckmann Estate, Berlin].

[2] Per invoice from Catherine Viviano Gallery to Morton D. May dated June 5, 1956 [May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum]. After Curt Valentin's death in 1954, the artist's widow, Mathilde Q. Beckmann, consigned Beckmann's work to the Catherine Viviano Gallery [letter from Mathilde Q. Beckmann to Morton D. May, dated December 20, 1955, May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum]. Göpel's catalogue raisonné includes both Buchholz Gallery (Curt Valentin) and Catherine Viviano Gallery in the provenance for this painting, but both galleries simply maintained the painting on consignment from the artist or his wife [Göpel, Erhard and Barbara Göpel. "Max Beckmann: Katalog der Gemälde." Bern: Kornfeld & Cie., 1976, cat. no. 703].

[3] 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.