The Circus Barker by Max Beckmann

Art work details

Original Title :

Der Ausrufer

Year of production :

1921

Artist:

Max Beckmann

Medium :

Original print, Drypoint

Dimensions :

height: 54.5; width: 38.3 cms

Credit Line :

Purchased from Sotheby's with NACF grant aid and V&A purchase fund assistance, supported by the City of Leicester Museums Trust

Copyright :

© DACS 2013.

Catalogue References:

Glaser 166. Gallwitz 163. Hofmaier 191 B b. Rifkind 1381 1.

Tags:

Weimar Republic, Portrait, Beckmann, Drypoint

Plate 1 of The Fair, a series of ten drypoints published by Maier-Graefe and Reinhard Piper in 1922. Beckmann shows himself as a barker, summoning custom to the Circus Beckmann to see the harsh reality of fairground life which is seen as a microcosm of society. 

Beckmann’s artistic life was shaped by the horrors he witnessed in the First World War. His artwork incorporated the streets, characters and performers of Weimar Germany, using distorted perspectives to create tension and unease.