Carnival Mask, Green, Violet, and Pink (Columbine)
- Date
- 1950
- Material
- Oil on canvas
- made in
- New York, New York, United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- Modern and Contemporary Art
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 216
- Dimensions
- 53 1/2 x 39 9/16 in. (135.9 x 100.5 cm)
framed: 61 3/8 x 47 3/4 x 1 3/4 in. (155.9 x 121.3 x 4.4 cm) - Credit Line
- Bequest of Morton D. May
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 867:1983
NOTES
A woman in carnival costume faces the viewer head-on, sitting assertively on a table with legs spread wide and wearing a cat-like mask. Beckmann depicts this woman as a strong and powerful figure who tosses men aside, suggested symbolically by the image of the Jack atop the discarded playing cards in the foreground. Beckmann structures his composition around a pyramid of black, represented by the stockings, outfit, and the mask.
Provenance
Max Beckmann (1884-1950), New York, NY [1]
1950 - 1968
Mathilde Q. Beckmann, New York, NY, by inheritance from the artist [2]
1968 - 1983
Morton D. May (1914-1983), St. Louis, MO, purchased from Catherine Viviano Gallery, New York, NY, on consignment from Mathilde Q. Beckmann [3]
1983 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Morton D. May [4]
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. According to Göpel, Beckmann recorded that this painting was started on February 19 and completed on May 29, 1950 in New York [Göpel, Erhard and Barbara Göpel. "Max Beckmann: Katalog der Gemälde." Bern: Kornfeld & Cie., 1976, cat. no. 821].
[2] In a letter from Morton D. May to Mathilde Q. Beckmann dated June 20, 1968, May thanks Mrs. Beckmann for accepting his offer to purchase the painting from the Catherine Viviano Gallery. This indicates that the work was owned by Mathilde Q. Beckmann in 1968. Göpel includes Harry Spiro (New York/New Orleans) in the provenance for this painting (1964/65). Neither Viviano nor May's records make mention of Spiro [May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum]. A letter from Catherine Viviano to a potential buyer, dated January 14, 1966, shows that Viviano was offering it for sale in 1966 [Catherine Viviano Gallery records, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution].
[3] Invoice and letter from Catherine Viviano to Morton D. May dated June 27, 1968. Record sheets maintained by Morton D. May further confirm that he purchased the painting from Mathilde Q. Beckmann through the Catherine Viviano Gallery on June 27, 1968 [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 the Catherine Viviano Gallery in the provenance for this painting, but the gallery 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. 821].
[4] 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.
1950 - 1968
Mathilde Q. Beckmann, New York, NY, by inheritance from the artist [2]
1968 - 1983
Morton D. May (1914-1983), St. Louis, MO, purchased from Catherine Viviano Gallery, New York, NY, on consignment from Mathilde Q. Beckmann [3]
1983 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Morton D. May [4]
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. According to Göpel, Beckmann recorded that this painting was started on February 19 and completed on May 29, 1950 in New York [Göpel, Erhard and Barbara Göpel. "Max Beckmann: Katalog der Gemälde." Bern: Kornfeld & Cie., 1976, cat. no. 821].
[2] In a letter from Morton D. May to Mathilde Q. Beckmann dated June 20, 1968, May thanks Mrs. Beckmann for accepting his offer to purchase the painting from the Catherine Viviano Gallery. This indicates that the work was owned by Mathilde Q. Beckmann in 1968. Göpel includes Harry Spiro (New York/New Orleans) in the provenance for this painting (1964/65). Neither Viviano nor May's records make mention of Spiro [May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum]. A letter from Catherine Viviano to a potential buyer, dated January 14, 1966, shows that Viviano was offering it for sale in 1966 [Catherine Viviano Gallery records, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution].
[3] Invoice and letter from Catherine Viviano to Morton D. May dated June 27, 1968. Record sheets maintained by Morton D. May further confirm that he purchased the painting from Mathilde Q. Beckmann through the Catherine Viviano Gallery on June 27, 1968 [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 the Catherine Viviano Gallery in the provenance for this painting, but the gallery 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. 821].
[4] 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.