Max Beckman. World as scene

Many paintings by Max Beckman (1884 - 1950) depict the world of theater, circus and music halls. Entertainment and spectacle were the driving force of his work. In his paintings, Beckman modernized the baroque idea of the world as a scene.

After the First World War and the dramatic political events on the world stage after 1937, Beckmann used his “world of theater” as a symbol of the catastrophic situation that developed at that time. In Beckmann's art, the metaphor of the world as a scene can be seen as a strategy that he used to counter the dramatic changes around him. The artist turned his images into a stage for his work.

“Max Beckman. The world as a scene "in the Potsdam Barberini Museum - the first exhibition dedicated to this topic, which was of great importance to the artist. It gives viewers a new picture of one of the most prominent masters of the 20th century. The halls feature exhibits borrowed from many international museum collections, such as the Tate, the Fogg Museum, the Art Gallery of the University of Cambridge and the National Art Gallery in Washington.