Exhibition catalogue Beckmann. Exile Figures
The catalogue Beckmann. Exile Figures contains a description of the exhibition and the thinking behind how the exhibition was laid out. It also includes information about the artist and his work, full-colour reproductions of the exhibited works, illustrative images, a chronology and a bibliography.
The exhibition is divided into two parts, both centred around the idea of exile, as Beckmann was obliged to leave Germany in 1937 and go into exile. The works that make up the first part were created in Germany before 1937 and are exhibited in chronological order. The works in the second part were painted outside Germany after 1937 and are based around one of four themes or metaphors through which the artist alludes to the condition of exile: masks, electric Babylon, the long goodbye, and the sea.
Beckmann was a figurative painter and practiced the traditional genres of painting: portraiture, landscape, still life and allegory. However, it was the latter that was his favourite genre and to which he dedicated the most of his time and energy.