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Self-Portrait in Words

Collected Writings and Statements, 1903-1950

Edited and annotated by Barbara Copeland Buenger
One of the most important German artists of the twentieth century, Max Beckmann is known for the depth and sensuous force of his works, but little is known about his personal life. Self-Portrait in Words reveals Beckmann’s experience of life from the first years of his career in Berlin and Paris through his final years in the United States. This collection of Beckmann’s writings serves as a companion to his art and a testament to the complexities of his life.

"Barbara Copeland Buenger . . . has done an excellent job of editing and annotating Beckmann’s voluminous private and public writings."—Andrea Barnet, New York Times Book Review

442 pages | 10 halftones, 8 maps | 5-1/2 x 9 | © 1999

Art: European Art

Table of Contents

Abbreviations
List of Plates
Preface and Acknowledgments
Maps
Introduction
1: Diary, August 14-September 20, 1903
2: Diary, December 6, 1903-January 6, 1904
3: Diary, January 6 or Afterward-March 9, 1904
4: Diary, April 1-May 7, 1904
5: Diary, December 26, 1908-April 4, 1909
6: Response to In Battle for Art: The Answer to the "Protest of German Artists"
7: "Thoughts on Timely and Untimely Art"
8: Diary, December 20, 1912-April 17, 1913
9: Statement for Exhibition at Hamburg Kunstverein, Max Beckmann (Gemalde), Walter Geffcken (Gemalde), Jules Pascin (Zeichnungen)
10: "The New Program"
11: Wartime Letters: East Prussia
12: Wartime Letters: Belgium (Courtrai, Roeselare, Ostende)
13: Wartime Letters: Roeselare, Wervicq, Brussels
14: Catalogue Foreword for Exhibition at I. B. Neumann Graphisches Kabinett, Berlin, Max Beckmann Graphik
15: "Creative Credo"
16: Text for Hell Portfolio
17: Contribution to "On the Value of Criticism: An Inquiry of Artists"
18: Ebbi: A Comedy
19: The Hotel: Drama in Four Acts
20: Letter for the Piper Almanach
21: Autobiography
22: "The Social Stance of the Artist by the Black Tightrope Walker"
23: "The Artist in the State"
24: Statement in the Catalogue of the Mannheim Kunsthalle Retrospective
25: Answer to Frankfurter Zeitung Questionnaire about Politics
26: "On My Painting"
27: Speech Given to His First Class in the United States, Washington University, St. Louis
28: "Letters to a Woman Painter"
29: Speech for Friends and Faculty during Commencement Week Activities, Washington University, St. Louis
30: "Can Painting Be Taught? 1. Beckmann’s Answer"
Table of Monetary Equivalents
Notes
Index

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