Beckmann (Modern Masters Series, Vol. 19) [Paperback]

Peter Selz (Author)

Book Description

Series: Modern Masters Series | Publication Date: May 1, 1996

With more than 100 illustrations -- approximately 48 in full color -- this innovative series offers a fresh look at the most creative and influential artists of the postwar era. Modern Masters form a perfect reference set for home, school, or library. Each handsomely designed volume presents:

- A thorough survey of the artist's life and work

- Statements by the artist

- An illustrated chapter on technique

- Chronology

- Lists of exhibitions and public collections

- Annotated bibliography

- Index

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Born in Leipzig in 1884, Beckmann achieved early success as an artist, but it was only after his contact with the wounded and dying during WWI that he began to produce the emotionally charged paintings for which he is best known today. These anxious, violent scenes, with distorted, angular figures, intense colors and compressed space, caused the Nazis to label him a degenerate artist, and in 1937 he moved to Amsterdam. In 1947, he came to the United States, where he taught at Washington University in St. Louis and at the Brooklyn Museum Art School. He died in New York City in 1950. Because of the exaggerated emotional impact of his paintings, Beckmann is often called an expressionist, but as Selz points out in this lucid and insightful overview of the artist's life and work, he rejected the abstract tendencies of expressionism, which he considered too decorative, and insisted on formal structure and careful depiction of the real world. Selz also stresses that attempts to explain Beckmann's symbolism are futile because the artist never intended his complex, personal iconography to be completely understood. The 48 color and 122 black-and-white reproductions of Beckmann's paintings are of excellent quality. Selz is professor emeritus of art history at UC-Berkeley.

Copyright 1996 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Abbeville Press; First Edition edition (May 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789201194
• ISBN-13: 978-0789201195
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,463,005 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Good value, March 23, 2009

By 

M. Bykov (Newtown, PA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beckmann (Modern Masters Series, Vol. 19) (Paperback)

Affordable edition, fine quality images. It is always pity to have more b/w plates (114) than colour (50). As many other art books produced today it suffers from poor design. But again, for this price it is very good edition, fine enough to purchase as an introduction to this great artist. Crown Art Library also has Beckmann and it might be good and less expensive.