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Hell

Publisher J. B. Neumann American, born Austria
1918–19
Not on view
Following Klinger’s example, the German Expressionists often used printmaking to explore subject matter related to the darker side of life. Beckmann was one of numerous artists within this movement to mine the creative potential of the portfolio. The prints of Hell collectively express the nihilism and chaos of life in interwar Berlin. In Night, which was also realized as a painting shortly before the print was produced, a group of men cruelly tortures a middle-class family in their home. Coupled with the other horrific scenes of the portfolio, the image was meant to relate the psychological trauma inflicted on the German people by war and economic strife.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Hell
  • Artist: Max Beckmann (German, Leipzig 1884–1950 New York)
  • Publisher: J. B. Neumann
  • Date: 1918–19
  • Medium: Portfolio of eleven transfer lithographs
  • Edition: 1/75
  • Dimensions: Portfolio closed: 35 3/8 × 26 9/16 in. (89.8 × 67.4 cm)
    a: 20 1/4 × 17 1/16 in. (51.4 × 43.3 cm)
    b: 34 1/8 × 23 15/16 in. (86.6 × 60.8 cm)
    c: 33 7/16 × 23 15/16 in. (85 × 60.8 cm)
    d: 24 1/8 × 33 13/16 in. (61.2 × 85.9 cm)
    e: 29 1/2 × 22 7/16 in. (75 × 57 cm)
    f: 34 in. × 24 1/16 in. (86.4 × 61.1 cm)
    g: 24 in. × 34 1/8 in. (61 × 86.7 cm)
    h: 31 5/8 × 20 9/16 in. (80.4 × 52.3 cm)
    i: 34 5/16 × 24 3/16 in. (87.1 × 61.5 cm)
    j: 34 5/16 × 24 1/16 in. (87.1 × 61.1 cm)
    k: 34 1/4 × 24 1/8 in. (87 × 61.2 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 2002
  • Object Number: 2002.491a–n
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

More Artwork

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The Last Ones, Max Beckmann German, Lithograph with graphite
The Last Ones
Max Beckmann
1919
Klara, Max Beckmann German, Drypoint
Klara
Max Beckmann
1917
Portrait of Minna Beckmann, Max Beckmann German, Lithograph
Portrait of Minna Beckmann
Multiple artists/makers
1911
Embrace (Umarmung), Max Beckmann German, Drypoint
Embrace (Umarmung)
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R. Piper & Co.
1922
Wrestling Match, Max Beckmann German, Drypoint
Wrestling Match
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Staatliches Bauhaus, Weimar
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