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Portrait of Morton D. May

Date
1949
Material
Oil on canvas
(not assigned)
Germany, Europe
Classification
Paintings
Current Location
Not on view
Dimensions
30 × 20 in. (76.2 × 50.8 cm)
framed: 38 1/8 × 28 1/8 in. (96.8 × 71.4 cm)
Credit Line
Bequest of Morton D. May
Rights
Public Domain
Object Number
861:1983
Max Beckmann (1884-1950), St. Louis, MO, USA [1]

1949 -1983
Morton D. May (1914-1983), St. Louis, MO, USA, commissioned from the artist [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 is included in Beckmann's 1949 St. Louis list as number 7. Beckmann notes that he completed the canvas on April 14, 1949. Beckmann's diary notes that May received the painting on April 15, 1949. ["Max Beckmann: Tagebücher 1940-1950" München: Albert Langen-Georg Müller, 1955]

[2] According to record sheets maintained by Morton D. May, May paid for the painting on April 7, 1949 [May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum].

[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.

We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.

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