Das Karusell (The Carousel), plate 7 from the series Jahrmarkt (The Annual Fair)
Max Beckmann, Das Karusell (The Carousel), plate 7 from the series Jahrmarkt (The Annual Fair), 1921; printed 1922, drypoint on Japanese paper on beige, medium, smooth wove paper, Museum Purchase: Helen Thurston Ayer Fund, © artist or other rights holder, 46.40
This work is not currently on view.
- Title
Das Karusell (The Carousel), plate 7 from the series Jahrmarkt (The Annual Fair)
- Related Titles
original language: Das Karusell
series (original language): Jahrmarkt
series (translated): The Annual Fair
translated: The Carousel
- Artist
- Date
1921; printed 1922
- Medium
drypoint on Japanese paper on beige, medium, smooth wove paper
- Edition
edition of 75
- Dimensions (H x W x D)
plate: 11 3/8 in x 10 1/4 in; sheet: 15 7/8 in x 13 1/8 in
- Inscriptions & Markings
blindstamp: [image of naked man holding onto an eagle], embossed, lower left
signature: Beckmann, graphite, lower left
inscription: 46.40, graphite, lower left
- Collection Area
Graphic Arts
- Category
Prints
- Object Type
intaglio print
- Culture
German
- Credit Line
Museum Purchase: Helen Thurston Ayer Fund
- Accession Number
46.40
- Copyright
© artist or other rights holder
- Terms
Max Beckmann's favorite theme in his paintings and graphic art was the carnival. Witness to the extraordinary horrors of World War I, the artist used the subject to represent life's absurdity in a meaningless, chaotic universe. His most extensive engagement with this theme is the series Jahrmarkt (The Annual Fair). The suite of drypoints allegorizes the carnival as a theater of life. In the frontispiece, Beckmann appears as a barker advertising the show.
In this work, the artist depicts himself among four riders on a distorted carousel, grimacing over his shoulder at us. Barely contained by the printing plate, the crowded composition is dizzying. He reverses the roles of grown-ups and children: two youths watch adults whiz by on menacing animals that appear more alive than fabricated. Mocking masks and the carousel's strange, upward tilt add to the unsettling, dreamlike interplay.
- Exhibitions
2008 Making Merry: the Circus and Carnival in Graphic Art Portland Art Museum
