Woman on a Sofa (Fridel Battenberg) (Frau auf dem Sofa [Fridel Battenberg])

Max Beckmann

1916 (published 1918)

A small drypoint in which Max Beckmann uses terse, restless lines to portray a seated woman, aiming to capture psychological intensity and mood rather than a polished likeness.

What strikes you is the sketchlike, jagged quality of the etched strokes and the cramped composition that thrusts the sitter’s wide, alert eyes and tense hands into immediate focus, making the scene feel intimate and unsettled.

Created during World War I, the print shows how Beckmann and his contemporaries expanded printmaking’s expressive possibilities to convey modern anxieties and inner life, bridging figuration and early Expressionism.

Palette

Art Terms

Expressionism Figurative Portrait Gestural Drypoint Intaglio Print

Exhibitions

Prints by Max Beckmann

1951

From the Museum Collections: Family Portraits

1964

German Drawing: The Expressionists

1974

Max Beckmann

1964