About this artwork
The single woman tortured in this image can be none other than one of the cofounders of the German Communist Party, Rosa Luxemburg. She was murdered in January 1919 by rightwing vigilantes, groups acting with the support of the ruling liberal party. This suppression of the Left highlighted the fundamental contradiction of the Weimar Republic: though it was a democracy, it began its history with the use of undemocratic, extralegal means. The presence of the bourgeois man along with other social types makes it clear that Max Beckmann saw this as an affair that encompassed society as a whole.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Prints and Drawings
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Artist
- Max Beckmann
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Title
- The Martyrdom, plate four from Die Hölle
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Place
- Germany (Artist's nationality)
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Date
- Made 1919
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Medium
- Transfer lithograph on tan imitation Japanese paper
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Dimensions
- Image: 54.5 × 75 cm (21 1/2 × 29 9/16 in.); Sheet: 61.2 × 87.3 cm (24 1/8 × 34 3/8 in.)
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Credit Line
- Purchased with funds provided by Dr. and Mrs. Martin Gecht
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Reference Number
- 1989.685.4
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Copyright
- © 2018 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
