The German painter and graphic artist Max Beckmann (1884-1950) was one of the towering personalities of figurative expressionist art. His work is characterized by a sculptural monumentality, a vibrant use of color, and a profoundly philosophical outlook.

Max Beckmann was born in Leipzig, the son of a flour merchant. By the age of 14 Max was painting seriously. He attended the Weimar Academy (1900-1903) and then went to Berlin to study. He was influenced by the German impressionism of Max Liebermann and Lovis Corinth. In 1906, just before leaving for Italy on a scholarship, Beckmann married a fellow student. His Great Death Scene (1906), a painting clearly influenced by Edvard Munch, reflects the death of Beckmann's mother.

Back in Berlin, Beckmann visited the 1907 exhibition of Eugène Delacroix's paintings and produced a number of comparable large-scale works. He was also influenced by the monumental compositions of Peter Paul Rubens, as...