Max Beckmann: The World as a Stage

24 February - 10 June 2018

The Museum Barberini in Potsdam dedicates an entire exhibition to one of the most important painters of classical modernism.

Max Beckmann's (1884-1950) style corresponded to Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) in the 1920s and was later attributed to Expressionism. His paintings are characterised by bright colours and black contours. A consistent theme in Beckmann's works is theatre. In the role of the spectator, he hopes to reveal the truth behind the actor's mask.

The World Theatre as a symbol of current events

Under the term "world as a stage", the Barberini Museum brings together 112 works by Beckmann from all over the world. The focus of the exhibition is the Actors triptych from the Fogg Art Museum of Harvard University. Also on view are pictures of vaudeville and fairground artists, acrobats, clowns, actors or self-portraits of the artist as a clown. They are all figures in the world theatre and a commentary by Max Beckmann on the world events of his time.