Max Beckmann's Complete Diaries Digitally Published by Max Beckmann Archive

The Max Beckmann Archive of the Bavarian State Painting Collections has published the artist's complete, uncensored diaries online for the first time. This invaluable resource offers unprecedented access to Max Beckmann's personal writings, revealing his artistic struggles, financial dealings, and daily observations. The digital archive features scans of every diary page alongside transcriptions, making his distinctive handwriting legible. Searchable registers allow users to filter entries by topics like cinema visits, finances, and specific artworks. Beckmann documented over 230 cinema trips, noting his reactions to films starring Fred Astaire and Marlene Dietrich. His financial records detail picture sales, including a 1941 transaction with Munich gallerist Günther Franke for 3,500, involving paintings now in the Pinakothek der Moderne. The diaries also track historical events, from World War II entries like "War with Russia" on June 22, 1941, to the Korean conflict. Entries for the 1944 "Self-Portrait in Black" trace its journey from Amsterdam to the Pinakothek der Moderne, which houses the world's second-largest Beckmann collection. Written in an idiosyncratic style full of irony and humor, the diaries provide insight into his networks in Amsterdam and New York, including dealings with his New York gallerist Curt Valentin. The archive, founded in 1977 and supported by the Friends of the Max Beckmann Archive, is now permanently accessible online.