LOT DETAILS

Materials:

oil on canvas

Measurements:

47.13 in. (119.70 cm.) (height) by 63.15 in. (160.40 cm.) (width)

Exhibited:

Paris (probably in a private gallery), Expressionisten, no catalogue (mentioned in a letter from Max Beckmann to Curt Valentin dated 7 December 1945). New York, Buchholz Gallery, Paintings and Sculpture from Europe, January 1948, no. 4, p. 20 (illustrated; dated ‘1937’). New York, Art School of the Brooklyn Museum, Faculty Show, September 1950, no catalogue. Munich, Haus der Kunst, Max Beckmann zum Gedächtnis, 1884-1950, June – July 1951, no. 116 (illustrated); this exhibition later travelled to Berlin, Schloss Charlottenburg, September 1951. Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Max Beckmann, December 1951 – January 1952, no. 44 (dated '1937'). New York, Curt Valentin Gallery, Max Beckmann, January – February 1954, no. 19 (illustrated; mistakenly dated ‘1947’). Madison, Wisconsin Union Gallery, German Expressionist Paintings from the Morton D. May Collection, April - May 1959, no. 3. St Louis, Pius XII Memorial Library, St Louis University, Paintings from the Collection of Mr and Mrs Morton D. May, February – July 1960, no. 63 (illustrated). Denver Art Museum, German Expressionist Paintings from the Collection of Mr & Mrs Morton D. May, 1960, no. 69 (dated ‘1937’); this exhibition later travelled to Los Angeles, UCLA Art Galleries; San Diego, Fine Arts Gallery; San Francisco, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum; Chicago, Art Institute; Youngstown, Butler Institute of American Art; Akron, Ohio, Akron Art Institute; Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute; Washington, D.C., Corcoran Gallery of Art; and Baltimore Museum of Art between 1960-1962. Portland Art Museum, German Expressionist Paintings from the Collection of Morton D. May, September – October 1967, no. 25 (dated '1937'). Recklinghausen, Städtische Kunsthalle, Reiche des Phantastischen, May – June 1968, no. 10, p. 64 (illustrated; dated '1938'). Paris, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Max Beckmann, September – October 1968, no. 72 (illustrated); this exhibition later travelled to Munich, Haus der Kunst, November 1968 – January 1969, no. 70 (illustrated; dated 1938'); and Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, January – March 1969, no. 72 (illustrated). Bremen, Kunsthalle, Max Beckmann und die deutschen Expressionisten aus der Sammlung Morton D. May, St Louis, USA, April – June 1969, no. E7; this exhibition later travelled to Karlsruhe, Badischer Kunstverein, June – July 1969; and Vienna, Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts, August – September 1969. New York, Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, The Morton D. May Collection of 20th Century German Masters, January – February 1970, no. 29 (illustrated); this exhibition later travelled to St Louis, City Art Museum, July – August 1970. London, Marlborough Fine Art, Max Beckmann, November 1974, no. 24, p. 9 (illustrated p. 28; dated ‘1937’); this exhibition later travelled to New York, Marlborough Gallery, March 1975. Munich, Haus der Kunst, Max Beckmann – Retrospektive, February – April 1984, no. 84, pp. 270-271 (illustrated p. 271; dated ‘1938’); this exhibition later travelled to Berlin, Nationalgalerie, May – July 1984; St Louis, The St Louis Art Museum, September – November 1984; and Los Angeles, County Museum of Art, December 1984 – February 1985. London, Royal Academy of Arts, German Art in the 20th Century: Painting and Sculpture 1902-1985, no. 119 (illustrated; dated ‘1938’); this exhibition later travelled to Stuttgart, Staatsgalerie, February – April 1986. Stuttgart, Staatsgalerie, Max Beckmann: Meisterwerke 1907-1950, September 1994 – January 1995, no. 33, p. 128 (illustrated p. 129; dated ‘1938’). New York, Guggenheim Museum SoHo, Max Beckmann in Exile, October 1996 – January 1997, no. 7 (illustrated; dated ‘1938’). Los Angeles, County Museum of Art, Exiles and Emigrés: The Flight of European Artists from Hitler, February – May 1997, no. 8, p. 401 (illustrated p. 60; dated ‘1938’); this exhibition later travelled to Montreal, Museum of Fine Arts, June – September 1997. Paris, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Max Beckmann, September 2002 – January 2003, no. 101, p. 287 (illustrated pp. 188-189; dated ‘1938’); this exhibition later travelled to London, Tate Modern, February – May 2003; and New York, Museum of Modern Art QNS, June – September 2003. Paris, Musée du Louvre, De l'Allemagne, 1800-1939: De Friedrich à Beckmann, March – June 2013, p. 34 (illustrated; dated '1938'). New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Max Beckmann in New York, October 2016 – February 2017, no. 19, p. 88 (illustrated p. 89; dated ‘1938’).

Literature:

The artist's handlist (annotated ‘1938: Hölle der Vögel. Verkauft (an Kati in Paris (Valentin)’). Letter from Max Beckmann to Rudolf von Simolin, Paris, 21 December 1938. Letter from Max Beckmann to Curt Valentin, 7 December 1945. H. Swarzenski, 'Prefatory Note', in exh. cat., Bulletin of the City Art Museum of St Louis: Max Beckmann, vol. 33, no. 1-2, St Louis, May 1948, p. 8. B. Reifenberg & W. Hausenstein, Max Beckmann, Munich, 1949, no. 412, p. 76 (dated ‘1938’). The artist’s diary, 25 September 1950 (annotated in relation to the exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum ‘Aber am meisten freuten mich meine eben dort ausgestellten Bilder “Hölle der Vögel”, “Geburt” und “Mühle” aus Holland’). Exh. cat., Max Beckmann, Amsterdam, 1951, no. 44. H. Swarzenski, in exh. cat., Max Beckmann, St Louis, 1948, p. 8. T.B. Hess, 'Reviews and Previews', in Art News, vol. 52, no. 10, February 1954, p. 42 (illustrated). L.G. Buchheim, Max Beckmann, Feldafing, 1959 (illustrated fig. 58; dated '1938'). G. Schmidt, Malerei des 20. Jahrhunderts in Deutschland, 1900-1918, Königstein, 1960, p. 51 (illustrated). E. & E. Göpel, eds., Blick auf Beckmann: Dokumente und Vorträge, Munich, 1962, p. 274. A. Jannasch, 'Max Beckmann als Illustrator', in Imprimatur, vol. 3, 1962, p. 20. M.P. Maass, Das Apokalyptische in der modernen Kunst, Munich, 1965, p. 97 (illustrated p. 71; dated '1938'). H. Gärtner, 'Antifaschistische Kunst und Realismus', in Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift der Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Universität Greifswald, vol. 15, no. 4, Greifswald, 1966, pp. 365 & 370. H. Olbrich, 'Antifaschistische Kunst in der Emigration', in Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift der Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Universität Greifswald, vol. 15, no. 4, Greifswald, 1966, p. 442. S. Lackner, Ich erinnere mich gut an Max Beckmann, Mainz, 1967, p. 39. A. Jannasch, 'Max Beckmann als Illustrator', in Imprimatur, vol. 6, Neu-Isenburg, 1969, p. 11. M. Mícko, Expresionismus, Prague, 1969 (illustrated fig. 37; dated '1938'). C.S. Kessler, Max Beckmann’s Triptychs, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1970, note 8, p. 154 (dated '1937'). E. & B. Göpel, Max Beckmann: Katalog der Gemälde, vol. I, Bern, 1976, no. 506, pp. 320-321 (illustrated vol. II, pl. 178). S. Lackner, Max Beckmann, New York, 1977, no. 30, p. 130 (illustrated p. 131; dated ‘1938’). A. Rosenbaum, 'Art from Five Centuries: Architect Peter Coan Creates a Setting for Richard Feigen's Collection', in House and Garden, vol. 155, no. 11, November 1983, pp. 102-115 (illustrated in situ). Exh. cat., Max Beckmann, Cologne, 1984 (illustrated fig. 7, p. 55; dated ‘1938’). W. Haftmann, Banned and Persecuted: Dictatorship of Art under Hitler, Cologne, 1986, pp. 57-58 (illustrated p. 57). S. Lackner, Max Beckmann, New York, 1991, no. 26, p. 98 (illustrated p. 99; 'dated 1938'). S. Reimertz, Max Beckmann, Hamburg, 1995, p. 100 (illustrated p. 101). R. Spieler, Max Beckmann, 1884-1950: The Path to Myth, Cologne, 1995, p. 114 (illustrated; dated ‘1937’). G. Teskey, Allegory and Violence, Ithaca & London, 1996, p. 125 (illustrated fig. 8; dated '1938'). A. Dümling, 'Deutsche Künstler im amerikanischen Exil: Die Sicht der USA', in Basler Zeitung, 24 April 1997. R. Hughes, 'The Indelible Imprint of Exile', in San Francisco Examiner, 9 March 1997 (illustrated). M. Kimmelman, 'The Agony of Exile, for the Lucky Ones', in The New York Times, 2 March 1997 (illustrated). A. Kruszynski, 'Den Menschen ein Bild ihres Schicksals Geben', in exh. cat., Max Beckmann: Die Nacht, Dusseldorf, 1997, p. 10 (illustrated fig. 1). L. Ollman, 'Exiles on Main Street', in ARTnews, vol. 96, no. 6, June 1997, p. 115. R.L. Pincus, 'Historical Force Lifts "Exiles" Exhibits to Powerful Heights', in San Diego Union Tribune, 9 March 1997. S. Rachum, ed., exh. cat., The Joy of Color: The Merzbacher Collection, Jerusalem, 1998, p. 208. N. Rosenthal, exh. cat., Apocalypse: Beauty and Horror in Contemporary Art, London, 2000, p. 16 (illustrated p. 23; dated '1938'). C. Schulz-Hoffmann, 'Between Self-Certainty, Irony and Despair: Max Beckmann 1925-1937', in exh. cat., Max Beckmann: Exile in Amsterdam, Amsterdam & Ostfildern, 2007, pp. 26-27, 45-46 & 108 (illustrated fig. 15, p. 27; dated ‘1938’). J. Lloyd, Neue Galerie, Max Beckmann: Self-Portrait with Horn, New York, 2008, p. 65 (illustrated; dated ‘1938’). P. Dagan, 'L'Art philosophique de Felix Nussbaum', in exh. cat., Felix Nussbaum, Paris, 2007, p. 37 (illustrated fig. 25, p. 36). ‘Max Beckmann: Hölle der Vögel’, in Künste im Exil, (virtual exhibition: http://kuenste-im-exil.de/KIE/Content/DE/Sonderausstellungen/MaxBeckmann/Objekte/02ExilParisAmsterdam/1938-beckmann-hoelle-der-voegel.html?single=1; accessed 2017).

Provenance:

Käthe von Porada, Paris and Vence, by whom acquired directly from the artist circa 1938-1939. Galerie Buchholz [Curt Valentin], New York (no. 7564), circa 1947. Stephen Radich, New York. Fine Arts Associates, New York. Morton D. May, St Louis, Missouri, by whom acquired in 1957. Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1983.