The Ring of Truth: 'Max Beckmann: Self-Portrait With Horn'

Without exaggeration, Max Beckmann (1884-1950) was the greatest German painter of the 20th century. He was a painter's painter, broader in range and more complex than his contemporaries. And he sustained his productivity at the highest possible level longer than others. "Max Beckmann: Self-Portrait With Horn," opening today at the Neue Galerie, is a splendid opportunity to view his painting and graphic work in context with the three Weimar artists who are best seen in relation to him: Otto Dix, Georg Grosz, and Christian Schad. The third-floor room in which their work is grouped is not large. Nevertheless, the selection is powerful, a fitting sequel in quality, if not in size, to "Glitter and Doom," the Metropolitan Museum of Art's 2006 benchmark exhibition of German portraiture from the 1920s. Beckmann's self-portrait is the... [read full story]