The catalogue to an exhibition of Beckmann's work on view from October 9, 1996 to January 5, 1997, at the Guggenheim Museum SoHo -- the first at an American museum in over a decade -- this book explores, in essays and color reproductions, the artist's fruitful years in exile.
Art historian Barbara Stehle-Akhtar discusses the critical reception of Beckmann's work in the United States and its stylistic development during this period. Scholar Reinhard Spieler probes Beckmann's nine completed triptychs, his sweeping masterpieces that express both the mood of the times and the artist's own worldview. Fellow emigre Stephan Lackner provides a reminiscence of his friendship with and support of Beckmann. Completing the volume are a personal interpretation by contemporary artist Eric Fischl of Beckmann's first trip-tych, Departure, as well as writings by Beckmann that eloquently convey his thoughts on aesthetics and creativity.
