Max Beckmann Lot n° 5

Max Beckmann Der Raucher (Selbstbildnis) 1916 Etching on laid paper with watermark "VAN GELDER ZONEN". 17.5 x 12.5 cm (34.8/35.2 x 26.5 cm) Signed, dated, and numbered. Proof 8/20. Published by Paul Cassirer, Berlin 1918. - Very finely nuanced impression with deep black burr. Margins slightly browned. Hofmaier 98 II B Provenance Family property, Saxony The smoker: The smoke rings floating in front of his head in this self-portrait are impressive. They are enormously large and perfectly formed, the masterful result of a well-trained ability. On 11 September 1903 Beckmann noted in his journal: “Afternoon, at the end, where it is already getting dark: slowly and savouring it, I blow the smoke of my cigarette before me. Now and then, I form it into a ring. And then I solemnly watch it go” (cited in James Hofmaier, Max Beckmann, Catalogue raisonné of his Prints, vol. I, Bern 1990, p. 260). The artist was already testing this skill before he had even begun to “consume” cigars and cigarettes. In one of his earliest self-portraits, at the age of probably just 16, he sits in profile and admires a soap bubble that he has just produced with a Meerschaum pipe (Erhard and Barbara Göpel, Max Beckmann, Katalog der Gemälde, Bern 1976, cat. no. 3, with illus.). In the beginning, it was all very harmless. Max Beckmann's self-portraits are among the most poignant to have ever been drawn or painted. There are a few that are overwhelming in their audacity, for example, the “Selbstbildnis im Smoking” created in 1927 (Göpel 274, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts). Beckmann is holding a cigar or cigarette in his hand or mouth in the majority of these pictures. When we think of Beckmann, we also think of his smoking but also the iconic self-portrait, here offered as print 8 out of only 20. It is not so long ago that ashtrays were a required item even in non-smokers' homes; even if people did not smoke themselves, it was nevertheless considered common courtesy to provide for the comfort of every guest. The dangers of smoking have since been scientifically proved and universally recognised. The extent to which Beckmann was aware of the damage done to his health through his smoking is uncertain. Entries in his journal - for example, “Smoking again”, from 6 May 1944 - prove that he occasionally attempted to give it up. The artist was only 66 when he died.