Lot Essay
Jahrmarkt (Annual Fair or Carnival) was issued in spring 1922 as the thirty-sixth publication of the Marées Gesellschaft by the influential publisher R. Piper & Co. in Munich. The portfolio was commissioned by Reinhard Piper and Julius Meier-Graefe, the founder of the Marées Gesellschaft. The program of this society included the publication of bibliophile books and portfolios with original prints, which included Gesichter of 1919 by Beckmann, and Antike Legenden by Lovis Corinth of the same year.
The ten drypoints contained in Jahrmarkt were all executed in 1921 and rank amongst the most important graphic works by Max Beckmann. The great manual dexterity and tight control demanded from the drypoint provided the artist with a most effective means to communicate his conception of art vis-à-vis its relationship to the world.
Many of the works in the portfolio were executed in Vienna, and are based on his visits to the Prater, the large amusement park. To Beckmann, the annual fair represented a microcosm of contemporary society. The subject matter comprises close-up views of characters of the fair as well as panoramic vistas of the fairground. By linking everyday life with the artificiality of the theatrical world, the artist tried to express life's ephemeral existence and illusions.
The ten drypoints contained in Jahrmarkt were all executed in 1921 and rank amongst the most important graphic works by Max Beckmann. The great manual dexterity and tight control demanded from the drypoint provided the artist with a most effective means to communicate his conception of art vis-à-vis its relationship to the world.
Many of the works in the portfolio were executed in Vienna, and are based on his visits to the Prater, the large amusement park. To Beckmann, the annual fair represented a microcosm of contemporary society. The subject matter comprises close-up views of characters of the fair as well as panoramic vistas of the fairground. By linking everyday life with the artificiality of the theatrical world, the artist tried to express life's ephemeral existence and illusions.