Student Artwork Guide
Copyright This work is in the public domain. Max Beckmann died in 1950; copyright lasts 70 years after the artist’s death, so it ended in 2020.
In context
The Prisoners — Max Beckmann
Row above: the years. Row below: how old the artist was at the start and at the end of each span — 0 at birth, 66 at death.
Shaded: the lifetime of Max Beckmann (1884–1950) every dated painting, decade by decade
First works: up to 1925 Main working years: 1925–1944 Late works: from 1944
Those three bands split the works this catalogue has a date for into a first quarter, a middle half and a last quarter. They are not the artist’s complete output: a thin stretch may be a gap in the record rather than a quiet spell. The same years with the artist’s life laid along them
This record has no exact year on file — using the artist's lifetime and the work's style, what decade would you guess?
Pick one work above: name two things it shares with this one, and one thing that's different.
More works to set beside this one: artsdot.com/en/art/similar/max-beckmann-the-prisoners-8LSVXG-en/
Measured from the image
Main colour
Walnut #624b2c
Catalogued palette
These colours inside the artist’s whole palette Find other paintings by colour
The ten leading countries
Find the three darkest countries on the map. Is the museum that keeps this painting in any of them? Write down one reason people far away might look at it.
Together these works take 83.1% of all the attention this artist's paintings received over the last twelve months. The catalogue holds 221 works by this artist, of which 68 were looked at at least once. This painting ranks 23 of them, with 0.6% of that attention. The same counts, month by month
Bars measure attention, not quality. Pick the work at the top and this one: name one thing that might make a painting famous beyond how well it is painted.
Artist and museum
Born in Leipzig, Germany
max beckmann, a renowned german painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor, and writer, was born on february 12, 1884, in leipzig, saxony. his artistic journey began with academically correct depictions, which later transformed into distorted figures and spaces, reflecting his altered vision of humanity after serving as a medical orderly in world war i.
beckmann's style, rooted in the imagery of medieval stained glass, was influenced by various artists, including cézanne, van gogh, blake, rembrandt, and rubens. he also drew inspiration from northern european artists of the late middle ages and early renaissance, such as bosch, bruegel, and matthias grünewald.
the bark (acquired by the national gallery in berlin) self-portrait in tuxedo (purchased in 1928) * retrospectives at the städtische kunsthalle mannheim (1928) and in basle and zurich (1930)
beckmann's fortunes changed with the rise of adolf hitler, leading to his dismissal from the art school in frankfurt and the confiscation of over 500 of his works. he lived in self-imposed exile in amsterdam for ten years, failing to obtain a visa for the united states.
taught at the art schools of washington university in st. louis and the brooklyn museum first retrospective in the united states took place in 1948 at the city art museum, saint louis * max-slevogt galerie, germany, features a collection of his works
max-slevogt galerie, germany
history of painting
max beckmann's artworks on AllPaintingsStore
key dates: born: february 12, 1884 died: december 27, 1950
artsdot.com/en/art/download/max-beckmann-the-prisoners-8LSVXG-en/
Look closely
The Prisoners — Max Beckmann
Answer in your own words. There are no wrong answers here — only answers you can explain.
Write a short paragraph about this artwork. Use the facts from the earlier parts of this guide, and your answers above.
The light-dark contrast of "The Prisoners" is recorded as serene. Contrast describes how strongly light and dark areas differ.
You can order a hand-painted reproduction of "The Prisoners" by Max Beckmann directly on its Hand-Painted Reproduction page: a hand-painted oil reproduction on linen canvas, made to order.
A Stats page exists for "The Prisoners". It charts the monthly visits of the artwork and of the artist's other works, with country and language breakdowns.