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The Cindy and Jay Pritzker Collection

Max Beckmann

Der Wels (The Catfish)

Estimate

5,000,000 - 7,000,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

The Cindy and Jay Pritzker Collection

Max Beckmann

(1884 - 1950)


Der Wels (The Catfish)

oil on canvas

49 ¼ by 49 ¼ in. 125.5 by 125.2 cm.

Executed in 1929.

Baron Rudolf Freiherr von Simolin, Berlin and Seeseiten (acquired directly from the artist in 1930)

Baroness Rudi von St. Paul, Seeseiten (acquired by descent from the above in 1945 and until at least 1964)

Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, 22 June 1990, lot 9

Richard L. Feigen & Co., New York (acquired at the above sale)

Acquired from the above by October 1990 by the present owner

Munich, Graphisches Kabinett (Günther Franke), Max Beckmann—mit neuen Bildern aus Paris, 1930, no. 9

Kunsthalle Basel and Kunsthaus Zürich, Max Beckmann, 1930, no. 95, pl. 10, p. 11, illustrated (dated 1930) (Basel); no. 82, p. 9 (Zurich)

Paris, Galerie de la Renaissance and Brussels, Galerie Le Centaure, Max Beckmann, 1931, no. 31 (Paris); no. 15 (Brussels)

Copenhagen, Statens Museum for Kunst, Nyere tysk kunst, maleri og Skulptur, 1932 (dated 1931)

Munich, Galerie Günther Franke, Max Beckmann, 1946, no. 56 (dated 1930)

Munich, Haus der Kunst; Berlin, Schloss Charlottenburg and Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Max Beckmann zum Gedächtnis 1884–1950, 1951-52, no. 80, p. 51 (Munich and Berlin) (dated 1930); no. 26 (Amsterdam) 

Kunstmuseum Luzern, Deutsche Kunst. Meisterwerke des 20. Jahrhunderts, 1953, no. 231, p. 48 (dated 1930)

Kunsthaus Zürich; Kunsthalle Basel and The Hague, Gemeente Museum, Max Beckmann 1884-1950, 1955-56, no. 52, p. 29 (Zurich); no. 44, p. 28 (Basel); no. 37, n.p. (The Hague) (dated 1930) 

Paris, Musée National d'Art Moderne; Munich, Haus der Kunst and Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Max Beckmann, 1968-69, no. 44 (Paris and Brussels), p. 38; no. 41, n.p. illustrated (Munich)

Paris, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris—Berlin: Rapports et contrastes France-Allemagne, 1900-1933, 1978, no. 30, p. 3 

Hans Eckstein, “Max Beckmann,” Das Werk, vol. 17, no. 9, 1930, p. 263, illustrated (dated 1930)

Otto Fischer, “Die neueren Werke Max Beck­manns,” Museum der Gegenwart, vol. I, no. 2, 1930, p. 97, illustrated; p. 98

Franz Roh, “Kunst der Gegenwart München, 1930,” Der Cicerone, vol. 22, nos. 13-14, 1930, p. 391, illustrated (dated 1929-30)

Carl Einstein, Die Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts, Berlin, 1931, p. 496, illustrated; p. 644 (dated 1930)

Julie Elias, “Provinz-Küche,” Omnibus, 1931, p. 138, illustrated (dated 1930)

Carlo Tridenti, “Il funerale dell’Espressionismo,” Il Giornale d’Italia, vol. XXXII, 1 March 1932, p. 3, illustrated (titled Pescatore)

Franz Roh, Kunst des XX. Jahrhunderts: Max Beckmann, Munich, 1947, pp. 3-4; pl. 4, illustrated in color (dated 1930)

Benno Reifenberg and Wilhelm Hausenstein, Max Beckmann, Munich, 1949, no. 296, p. 73 (dated 1930) 

John Anthony Thwaites, “Max BeckmannNotes for an Evaluation,” Art Quarterly, vol. XIV, no. 4, Winter 1951, fig. 4, p. 277; p. 279, illustrated (dated 1930)

Hans Vollmer, Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler des XX. Jahrhunderts, vol. I, Leipzig, 1953, p. 151 (dated 1930)

Hans Curjel, “Ausstellungen Luzern. Mei­sterwerke deutscher Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts,” Werk, vol. XL, no. 8, August 1953, p. 125, illustrated

Erhard Göpel, “Zirkusmotive und ihre Verwand­lung im Werke Max Beckmanns. Anlässlich der Erwer­bung des »Apachentanzes« durch die Bremer Kunst­halle,” Die Kunst und Das schöne Heim, vol. LVI, no. 9, June 1958, p. 329 (dated 1930)

Hans Martin Freiherr von Erffa and Erhard Göpel, Blick auf Beckmann, Dokumente und Vorträge, Munich, 1962, pl. 24, illustrated; p. 260

Exh. Cat., New York, The Museum of Modern Art; Boston, Museum of Fine Arts and Art Institute of Chicago, Max Beckmann, 1964, p. 50, illustrated; pp. 52 and 154 (titled The Big Catfish)

Charles S. Kesslder, Max Beckmann’s Triptychs, Cambridge, 1970, p. 20 (titled The Big Catfish)

Friedhelm Wilhelm Fischer, Max Beckmann. Sym­bol und Weltbild, Munich, 1972, fig. 32, pp. 83-84; p. 85, illustrated

Erhard Göpel and Barbara Göpel, Max Beckmann. Katalog der Gemälde, Bern, 1976, no. 312, vol. I, p. 225; vol. II, pl. 8, illustrated in color; pl. 108, illustrated

Exh. Cat., Cologne, Josef-Haubrich-Kunsthalle, Max Beckmann, 1984, p. 58, note 24

“Zu Max Beckmanns Gemälde »Tod« in der Berliner Nationalgalerie,” Zeitschrift des Deutschen Vereins für Kunstwissenschaft, vol. XXXIX, nos. 1-4, 1985, p. 131 (dated 1922)

Günter Busch, Max Beckmann: Der Wels, Bern, 1990, illustrated in color on the cover

Exh. Cat., Düsseldorf, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Einblicke: Das 20. Jahrhundert in der Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, 1990, p. 361

Karin von Maur, Max Beckmann: Reise auf dem Fisch, Stuttgart, 1992, fig. 3, p. 11; p. 12, illustrated

Max Beckmann; Klaus Gallwitz, Uwe M. Schneede and Stephan von Wiese, eds., Max Beckmann Briefe. 1925-1937, vol. II, Munich, 1994, pp. 129, 151, 159, 222, 374, 381 and 424

Peter Selz, Max Beckmann, New York, London and Paris, 1996, fig. 45, p. 44, illustrated; p. 45 (titled The Big Catfish)

Günter Busch, Das Gesicht: Aufsätze zur Kunst, Frankfurt, 1997, pp. 270-71, 273-80 and 369; p. 272, illustrated

Wendy Beckett, Beckmann and The Self, Cologne, 1997, p. 93, illustrated in color; p. 118

Thomas Heinze, ed., Kulturmanagement II: Konzepte und Strategien, Opladen, 1997, pp. 178 and 186

Exh. Cat., Madrid, Fundación Juan March, Max Beckmann, 1997, p. 58

Exh. Cat., Kunsthaus Zürich and The Saint Louis Art Museum, Max Beckmann and Paris, 1998-99, pp. 189-90, illustrated (in installation photograph of Paris, Galerie de la Renaissance, 1931); p. 191 (dated 1930)

Didier Ottinger, “Beckmann en eaux troubles,” Les Cahiers du Musée national d'art moderne, no. 76, Summer 2001, p. 112, illustrated; pp. 113 and 119, note 1

Richard Spieler, Max Beckmann 1884-1950: The Path to Myth, Cologne, 2002, p. 100, illustrated in color

Olaf Peters, Vom schwarzen Seiltänzer: Max Beckmann zwischen Weimarer Republik und Exil, Berlin, 2005, pp. 151, note 92, and 545, note 69

Uwe Fleckner, Carl Einstein und sein Jahrhundert: Fragmente einer intellektuellen Biographie, Berlin, 2006, fig. 138, p. 213; p. 214, illustrated

Exh. Cat., Bern, Zentrum Paul Klee, Max Beckmann—A Dream of Life, 2006, p. 65 (note 11)

Felix Billeter, Max Beckmann in der Pinakotek der Moderne, Munich, 2008, p. 343 (in photograph of the artist’s handlist)

Markus Lörz, Neuere Deutsche Kunst: Oslo, Kopenhagen, Köln 1932, Rekonstruktion und Dokumentation, Stuttgart, 2008, p. 350 

Dietrich Schubert, Max Beckmann vom Vietzker-Strand zur Departure. Die Kristallisation seiner Werturteile und sein bildnerische Praxis 1904-1936, Petersberg, 2021, p. 200 (titled Der Größe Fisch (Wels))

Anja Tiedemann, ed., Max Beckmann Catalogue Raisonné der Gemälde, no. 312, illustrated in color, https://max-beckmann.org/mb/g/312 (accessed on 10 June 2025)