Plate (facing page 26) fromEbbi
Max Beckmann
German, 1884–1950
1924
A drypoint print from Max Beckmann’s 1924 illustrated book Ebbi that stages a grotesque, theatrical tableau of a man clinging to an animal-like creature to probe human tension and inner turmoil.
You’re struck by the spare, insistent black line—exaggerated, almost cartoonish forms (the stiff rider, the drooped skeletal beast, a masked figure peering behind) set against an unmodeled ground that makes the scene feel intimate and uncanny.
Produced during the Weimar years, the print shows how Beckmann used drypoint and book sequences to fuse Expressionist drama with narrative clarity, helping modern printmaking address myth, anxiety, and the grotesque in compact, portable form.
Medium
Drypoint from an illustrated book with six drypoints
Dimensions
plate: 7 11/16 x 5 13/16" (19.6 x 14.7 cm); page: 13 x 9 9/16" (33 x 24.3 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Fund
Accession
214.1952.3
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
