Portrait of W. R. Valentiner (1880-1958)

Artist Max Beckmann German, 1884–1950, active in the United States 1947–1950

DateNovember 5, 1950

MediumCharcoal on blue paper

Dimensionsoverall: 22 7/8 × 17 5/8 in. (58.1 × 44.8 cm)
frame: 37 × 29 × 3/4 in. (94 × 73.7 × 1.9 cm)

ClassificationsDrawings

Credit LineBequest of W. R. Valentiner

Object numberG.65.10.2

On View

Not on view

ProvenanceCreated November 5, 1950, Max Beckmann’s apartment, New York [1]; given to W. R. Valentiner upon its completion; W. R. Valentiner, Los Angeles; shipped from Los Angeles to Raleigh, NC, October 1957 [2]; bequeathed to NCMA, 1958; Valentiner Estate, Raleigh, 1958 [3]; arrived at NCMA, 1965.

[1] See W. R. Valentiner, “Max Beckmann,” in Remembering Artists.
[2] Letter from Paul Wescher, Malibu, CA to Valentiner, Raleigh, October 5, 1957 (in curatorial file).
[3] 58.12.21-VE

Published ReferencesMasterpieces of Art: In Memory of William R. Valentiner, 1880-1958 (exhibition catalogue) (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1959), cat. no. 157, illus. (b-w) 228, fig. 157. W. R. Valentiner, “Max Beckmann,” in Remembering Artists, unpublished manuscript with editorial notes by J. W. G. (?), 1950–1951. Preserved in the State Archives of North Carolina, PC. 1556 (Mars ID 2066), 5, 9, 11–12. [Box and folder number unknown, but a copy is found in the Archives of American Art, Washington, D.C., Wilhelm Reinhold Valentiner papers, 1853–1977, microfilm reel 2141, Manuscripts. The Art Quarterly 26, no. 2 (Summer 1963), 275. Peter Selz, Max Beckmann (exhibition catalogue) (Garden City, NY: 1964), cat. no. 119. "Acquisitions," North Carolina Museum of Art Bulletin 6, no. 4 and 7, no. 1 (1966/67?), listed 80, illus. (color) cover. A Catalogue of Drawings and Watercolors (exhibition catalogue) (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1969), cat. no. 6, illus. (b-w). North Carolina Museum of Art Bulletin 17 (1997), illus. (b-w) 7. Françoise Forster-Hahn, Max Beckmann in Kalifornien. Exil, Erinnerung und Erneuerung (Munich and Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2007), noted 46, illus. (b-w) 47, fig. 19. Beckmann & America (exhibition catalogue) (Frankfurt: Hatje Cantz/Städel Museum, 2011) illus. (color) 80, fig. 79 (catalogue only, not in exhibition).

Exhibition HistoryRaleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "Masterpieces of Art: In Memory of William R. Valentiner, 1880-1958," April 6-May 17, 1959, cat. no. 157, illus. (b-w). Boston, MA, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, "Max Beckmann," October 1-November 15, 1964; New York, Museum of Modern Art, December 14, 1964-January 31, 1965; Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, March 12-April 11, 1965; Hamburg, Kunstverein, May 15-July 11, 1965; Frankfurt, Kunstverein, July 17-September 12, 1965; London, Tate Gallery, September 25-November 8, 1965, cat. no. 119. Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "Drawings and Watercolors," Summer 1969, cat. no. 6, illus. (b-w). Bielefeld, Germany, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, "Max Beckmann - Drawings and Watercolors," January 16-December 11, 1977; Frankfurt, Stadelsches Kunstinstitut und Stadtische Galerie, March 17-May 21, 1978. Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," October 7, 2022–present.

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