Max Beckmann

Mr. & Mrs. Perry T. Rathbone, Cambridge, Massachusetts (a gift from the artist in 1947)
Thence by descent

Executed on cream colored paper hinged to a mount at two places along the top edge on verso. The left edge is deckled and irregular. Two artist pinholes, one at upper right corner and the other at upper center. 1/4 inch tear at the upper right corner. Some very faint spots of foxing scattered throughout. One pinhole near the center of the right edge, half-inch towards center. Sheet is slightly time darkened, otherwise fine. Overall this work is in very good condition.
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Dr. Stephen von Wiese has kindly provided the following information regarding this work:

"The drawing is located and dated "Amsterdam 1945," stylistically the work is near to Beckmann's Goethe's Faust II illustrations, produced shortly before. It combines in fluent strokes of ink and pencil the contemporary and the mythical world. The woman dancer, who kneels with her left leg on the steps of a stair, should be seen in connection with the numerous vaudeville scenes in the work of the artist. The figure hides an ancient scheme of movement, the "Knielaufsystem," which appears at the topic of "Gorgo Medusa" and "Nike" in Attic vase painting and Attic sculpture. The seductive woman is dressed with long trousers, the back of the figure remaining bare. This outfit is spangled with a star decoration, as it likewise can be observed at "peplos"- robes in some ancient Greek art works, it reappears in Beckmann's painting of 1950: "Columbine." The gesturing woman grips with her left hand to an explosive object like a grenade or a bomb. The palm of the right hand is, as likewise in some Greek Gorgo Medusa representations, directed towards the beholder. In the lines of this hand might be hidden the future of the world in the fatal year 1945."