Bathing Scene (The Green Cloak)

1934

Max Beckmann

Associated Names
Max Beckmann

Painter, German, 1884 - 1950

The painting shows three people at the beach. On the right is a woman in a green one-shoulder garment with her back to us. She has pale skin and dark hair, and under her green garment is a brighter green outfit similar to a bathing suit. Next to her, on the left, is a man with peach-and-orange skin wearing a dark, one-shoulder outfit. His facial features are geometric and outlined with thick black lines. The man’s body is facing the left, but his head is turned to look at the woman in green. A third person is partially hidden behind these other two. The background includes a blue sky with white clouds and brown rocks in the vibrant, green-blue ocean.
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On View

East Building Mezzanine, Gallery 217

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Collection of Arnold and Joan Saltzman

  • Dimensions

    overall: 141 × 72.5 cm (55 1/2 × 28 9/16 in.)
    framed: 162.56 × 93.98 × 5.08 cm (64 × 37 × 2 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2006.164.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Curt Valentin Gallery, New York), in 1954. Stephan Lackner [1910-2000], Santa Barbara, California, in 1955. (Justin K. Thannhauser, New York); sold 1957 to Morton D. May [1914-1983], St. Louis, through at least 1970. (Marlborough Fine Art, Ltd., London). Arnold A. [1916-2014] and Joan R. [1919-2019] Saltzman, Sands Point, New York; gift (partial and promised) 2006 to NGA; gift completed 2013.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1938

  • Max Beckmann, Kunstverein, Winterthur, 1938, no. 18.

  • Max Beckmann. Gemalde und Graphik, Galerie Aktuaryus, Zurich, 1938, no. 4.

  • Max Beckmann, Kunsthalle, Bern, 1938, no. 16.

1954

  • Max Beckmann, Curt Valentin Gallery, New York, 1954, no. 5, as The Green Robe.

1955

  • Max Beckmann, Museum of Art, Santa Barbara; San Francisco; Pasadena, 1955, no. 11.

1960

  • Paintings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Morton D. May, Pius XII Memorial Library, St. Louis University, 1960, no. 58.

  • German Expressionist Paintings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Morton D. May, Art Museum, Denver, followed by a tour to ten additional venues, 1960-1962, no. 66.

1967

  • German Expressionist Paintings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Morton D. May, Portland Art Museum, Oregon, 1967, no. 19.

1968

  • Deutsche Expressionisten aus der Sammlung Morton D. Day, Kunsthalle, Bielefeld, followed by a tour to five additional venues, 1968-1969, no. 11.

1970

  • The Morton D. May Collection of German Masters, The Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, Inc., New York; City Art Museum, St. Louis, 1970, no. 24.

Bibliography

2013

  • Cooper, Harry. "Max Beckman, Bathing Scene (The Green Cloak)." National Gallery of Art Bulletin no. 49 (Fall 2013): 18, repro.

Inscriptions

lower right: Beckmann B[for Berlin] 34

Wikidata ID

Q20192946

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