Details
MAX BECKMANN (1884-1950)
Auferstehung ('Resurrection')
signed with the initial and dated B. 18 (lower right)
pen and India ink on paper
25.5 x 31 cm. (10 x 1214 in.)
Executed in 1918
Provenance
Reinhard Piper (1879-1953), Munich; commissioned from the artist in summer 1918; his estate sale, Karl & Faber, Munich, 29 June 1981, lot 119.
Acquired at the above sale; then by descent to the present owners.
Literature
B. Reifenberg & W. Hausenstein, Max Beckmann, Munich, 1949, p. 59, ill. p. 49.
R. Piper, Blick Auf Beckmann - Dokumente und Vorträge, Munich, 1962, p. 275, ill. p. 147.
E. & B. Göpel, Max Beckmann - Katalog der Gemälde - Vol. I: Katalog und Dokumentation, Bern, 1976, pp. 131 & 132.
S. von Wiese, Max Beckmanns zeichnerisches Werk 1903-1925, Düsseldorf, 1978, no. 390, p. 213, ill. fig. 171 (titled 'Auferstehung - motivlich erweiterte Nachzeichnung des Gemäldes von 1916/18').
H. Kinkel, 'Großer Auftritt für Beckmann' in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, no. 157, Frankfurt, 11 July 1981, p. 24.
S. von Wiese, '"Somnambulismus und Bewusstseinshelle" - zu Max Beckmanns Auferstehung (1916/18)' in: Max Beckmann - Symposium, Cologne, 1984, no. 2, p. 92 (ill.).
F. Erpel, Max Beckmann - Leben im Werk: Die Selbstbildnisse, Berlin, 1985, no. 73, p. 320, ill. pl. 75.
D. Schubert, Max Beckmann - Auferstehung und Erscheinung der Toten, Worms, 1985, no. 39, p. 98 (ill.).
J. Hofmaier, Max Beckmann - Catalogue Raisonné of his Prints, vol. I, Bern, 1990, p. 360.
M. Beckmann, Briefe, vol. I, 1899-1925, Munich, 1993, no. 118, p. 124.
Max Beckmann, Meisterwerke 1907-1950, exh. cat., Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, 1994, p. 81 (ill.; titled 'Auferstehung, motivisch erweiterte Nachzeichnung des Gemäldes').
U.M. Schneede, Max Beckmann, der Maler seiner Zeit, Munich, 2009, p. 60 (illustrated).
H. Finke & S. von Wiese, Max Beckmann, Werkverzeichnis der Zeichnungen, vol. II, 1917-1942, Munich, 2026, no. 760, p. 618 (illustrated p. 619).
Exhibited
Munich, Glaspalast, Münchner Neue Secession, III. Graphikausstellung, 1921, no. 54, p. 15.
Bremen, Kunsthalle, Max Beckmann in der Sammlung Piper - Handzeichnungen, Druckgraphik, Dokumente, 1910-1923, October - December 1974, no. 42, p. 35, ill. fig. 5, p. 15.
Munich, Galerie Günther Franke, Max Beckmann - 180 Zeichnungen und Aquarelle aus deutschem und amerikanischem Besitz, February - April 1975, no. 42, n.p. (titled 'Auferstehung').
Hamburg, Ernst Barlach Haus, Sammlung Reinhard Piper - Handzeichnungen von Barlach, Beckmann, Kubin und anderen Künstlern, April - May 1981, no. 119 (no cat.).
Frankfurt, Städtische Galerie im Städelschen Kunstinstitut, Max Beckmann - Frankfurt 1915-1933, November 1983 - February 1984, no. 102, p. 194, ill. p. 195).
Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Apokalypse - Ein Prinzip Hoffnung? Ernst Bloch zum 100. Geburtstag, September - November 1985, no. 114, pp. 238-240, ill. no. 113, p. 239.
Düsseldorf, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Max Beckmann - Die Nacht, September - November 1997, no. 30, p. 168, ill. p. 87 (titled 'Auferstehung - motivlich erweiterte Nachzeichnung des Gemäldes (1916/18)').
Hamburg, Kunsthalle, Aus der Werkstatt des Künstlers - Druckgraphik und vorbereitenden Zeichnungen der Sammlung Hegewisch, Part II, April - September 2000, p. 104, ill. p. 64.
Hamburg, Ernst Barlach Haus, Max Beckmann - Krieg, Zeichnungen und Druckgraphik 1913-1919, November 2000 - January 2001, no. 6, p. 30, ill. p. 16.
Braunschweig, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Max Beckman - Selbstbildnisse, Zeichnung und Druckgraphik, February - May 2001, no. 46, p. 174, ill. p. 175.
Hamburg, Kunsthalle, Max Beckmann - Zeichnungen und Druckgraphik aus der Sammlung Hegewisch, November 2005 - February 2006, no. 18, pp. 66 & 161, ill. pl. 34, p. 67 (titled 'Auferstehung - Erscheinung der Toten (Motivisch erweiterte Nachzeichnung des Gemäldes von 1916/18)').
St Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum, Max Beckmann - Works from Museum and Private Collections of Hamburg and Lübeck, November 2007 - January 2008, no. 14, p. 65, ill. pp. 26 & 65.
Leipzig, Kunsthalle der Sparkasse, Saxonia Paper - Zeichnung in Sachsen, September 2011 - January 2012, no. 52, ill. p. 92.
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Lot Essay

Auferstehung relates closely to Beckmann's monumental unfinished painting of the same title, begun in 1916 and now in the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. Conceived shortly after his discharge from military service, the artist abandoned the conventions of his earlier Resurrection scene (1908-09), transposing the biblical subject to a war-ravaged city where battered figures emerge from the ruins in a vision of suffering and renewal. At the centre of both the Stuttgart painting and the present work stands a gaunt, Christ-like nude whose presence unites the surrounding groups and embodies both humanity's torment and hope. Preliminary studies for this central Christ-like figure and the striding man to his right are offered as lots 306 and 307 in this sale. Although the painting remained unfinished, Beckmann continued to develop the composition until at least 1918, when he executed the present pen-and-ink drawing.

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