The tempest

Beckmann, Max (1884-1950)

Item type:

painting

Date of creation:

1946-1949

Height:

179.4 cm  (70 5/8 in.)

Width:

66.0 cm  (26 in.)

Technique / Medium:

oil on paperboard mounted on plywood

Description

Commentary from museum website:
Throughout his career Beckmann was attracted to mysterious allegories and complicated symbolism, and his works are often difficult to decode. With its swirl of ambiguous, nightmarish figures, this painting's exact subject remains something of a mystery. The ambiguity is reinforced by the fact that Beckmann thought and rethought the work: he began the painting in 1947, but reworked it heavily two years later, changing its name from Jupiter to The Tempest.

Iconclass

5(+6)
Abstract Ideas and Concepts ( + situation or event (especially in genre painting) with symbolical connotation)
48C8021
symbolic representations, allegories and emblems ~ dramatic literature

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Wind instruments [3730] (three end-blown instruments with flared bells)

Image URLs

image link 1

RIdIM record id

6017