Large Laren Landscape with Windmill

- 1947
Max Beckmann (1884-1950), Amsterdam, The Netherlands; New York, NY, USA [1]

1947 - 1955
Buchholz Gallery (Curt Valentin), later Curt Valentin Gallery, New York, NY, USA [2]

1955 - 1959
Gertrude Bernoudy (1914-1994), purchased from Curt Valentin Gallery [3]

1959 - 1983
Morton D. May (1914-1983), St. Louis, MO, purchased from Gertrude Bernoudy [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 notes on who purchased them. This painting appears on Beckmann's Amsterdam 1946 list as number 16. Beckmann notes that he completed the canvas on August 15, 1946, followed by Valentin's name [Beckmann Estate Berlin].

[2] Beckmann notes the sale of the painting to Curt Valentin in his diary on December 26, 1946 ["Max Beckmann: Tagebücher 1940-1950." Munich: Albert Langen & Georg Müller, 1955, p. 174]. A letter from Ralph Colin to William Eisendrath, Jr., dated July 8, 1968, claims that the painting was purchased by Buchholz Gallery from the artist on February 7, 1947 [May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum]. The 1949 catalogue raisonné lists the painting in the collection of Curt Valentin and, alternately, Buchholz Gallery Curt Valentin, New York [Reifenberg, Benno, and Wilhelm Hausenstein. "Max Beckmann." Munich: R. Piper & Co., 1949, cat. no. 583]. In 1951, Curt Valentin changed the name of Buchholz Gallery to Curt Valentin Gallery.

[3] A letter from Ralph Colin to William Eisendrath, Jr., dated July 8, 1968 [see also note [2]] states that Mrs. Lenart Bernoudy (a.k.a. Gertrude Bernoudy) purchased the painting from Curt Valentin Gallery on July 20, 1955 [May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum].

[4] Per invoice from Gertrude Bernoudy to Morton D. May dated November 17, 1959 [May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum].

[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.