Circus (Zirkus) from Day and Dream
Max Beckmann
German, 1884–1950
(1946)
A lithograph in which Max Beckmann stages a grotesque, theatrical circus tableau—distorted performers, a reclining nude, and symbolic props—to interrogate spectacle, desire, and human disquiet.
Bold, sketchy black strokes flatten a cramped stage of contorted bodies: a languid nude sprawled with a visible ‘Varieté Programm,’ a muscular croucher, a goat‑faced ringmaster, and a bicyclist brandishing an absurdly large milk bottle, all rendered with jagged economy that makes the scene feel both comic and menacing.
Created in 1946 for the Day and Dream portfolio, this print channels Beckmann’s late engagement with allegory and the grotesque, helping to reassert figurative printmaking after the war as a means to confront moral ambiguity and the theatricality of modern life.
Medium
One from a portfolio of fifteen lithographs
Dimensions
composition (irreg.): 15 1/2 x 11 7/16" (39.4 x 29.1 cm); sheet: 15 3/4 x 11 13/16" (40 x 30 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Purchase
Accession
1.1947.12
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
