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In his still lifes, Max Beckmann juxtaposed vitality with death, permanence with ephemerality. Featuring nearly eighty paintings along with watercolours and other objects, this volume covers a half-century of the artist's forays into the genre. The works run like a golden thread through every stage of his creative life. Images of skulls, dying flowers, extinguished candles and gleaming mirrors populate these masterful works, which draw on the tradition of the Old Masters as well as the vanitas of the early 17th century. At the same time, Beckmann's still lifes are a celebration of colour and form, materiality, textures and surfaces. The beautifully reproduced works are luminous on the page, allowing readers to appreciate Beckmann's use of iridescent colour and bold lines. Together they provide a unique perspective on Beckmann's development as an artist, as well as a rich exploration into an aspect of the modern master's oeuvre that is lesser known.
