PABLO PICASSO I MAX BECKMANN. MAN - MYTH - WORLD

Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973) and Max Beckmann (1884 - 1950) are key figures of modernism. In the first half of the 20th century, both made decisive contributions to a redefinition of the possibilities and tasks of representational painting. Starting from different assumptions, they independently arrived at individual solutions to important questions of art, and their work revolves around fundamental questions of human existence. Despite the different artistic visions, their positions always touch each other in surprising ways. While, on the one hand, both artists destroyed old rules of the pictorial order, on the other hand, they drew on art historical traditions. Both require an intensive examination of the image and its possibilities: with the relationship to representation and spatiality, with the relationship between figuration and abstraction, and with the renewal and reinterpretation of iconographic traditions. But Picasso and Beckmann also approached their own lives, their artistic self-image, the political and social framework of their creative work, and current events with vitality and enthusiasm.

Picasso and Beckmann developed their life's work independently and moved in different networks. Precisely for this reason it is remarkable how, in their efforts to give new meaning and a new direction to representational painting that focuses on people and their relationship to the world, they often acted shoulder to shoulder and arrived at parallel points of view. On the other hand, they often held diametrically opposed positions.

Although the two artists probably never met in person, not even during Beckmann's multiple stays in Paris did they notice each other. In fact, Beckmann was challenged and stimulated throughout his life by Picasso's unprecedented success in the international art world. He would have loved to see his photographs exhibited alongside those of his secret rival. Moreover, Picasso is said to have appreciated Beckmann's work. After visiting his first exhibition in Paris in 1931, he is reported to have said of him, "Il est très fort."

However, it has never been possible to compare the works of the two artists and thus their attitudes and artistic views in a comprehensive way and in the context of an exhibition. To make this possible for the first time, the Von der Heydt Museum in Wuppertal and the Sprengel Museum in Hannover have joined forces.

For the joint project, the two museums rely primarily on their own rich holdings. The Von der Heydt Museum was the first museum in the world to acquire a painting by Pablo Picasso, in 1911. And one of Max Beckmann's key works, his "Self-Portrait as a Nurse" (1915), was purchased by Barmer in 1925. Artistic partnership secured for a public art collection in Wuppertal.