Birdplay
1949
Max Beckmann German, 1884-1950
Germany
Pushed out of Germany in the late 1930s because of his “degenerate” art, Beckmann immigrated to America in 1947. During the summer of 1949 he briefly taught art classes at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and Birdplay was one of about 13 drawings he completed during that period. This major work reflects the artist’s lifelong interest in birds and classical literature.
Pen and black ink, with scraping, over charcoal, on cream laid paper