Weird Placement of "The Beginning."

[NNadir]

On New Year's Eve Day, my family went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

It ended up that my sons went one way together; my wife and I another, and eventually, while we were in the Degas/Monet exhibition, my wife and I ended up split, so I wandered the Museum on my own.

I had tried to convince my family before choosing the Met to try the Neue Museum, which focuses on Early 20th Century German art, notably Gustav Klimt (who was in fact, not German, but Austrian) because they were having a show dedicated to an artist whose work speaks profoundly to me, Max Beckmann, but I was outvoted, 3-1.

Max Beckmann, the Formative Years at the Neue Gallery.

(In defense of my family, they have agreed on multiple occasions to go to Max Beckmann shows, and one of my happiest memories is coming across his Departure at the Modern when he was in Art School. (Internet renditions of this painting do not capture its enormity; he painted this powerfully disturbing painting just after Hitler came to power in Germany, declaring his work "Degenerate Art." )

Well, the consolation for losing the vote is that The Met has one of Beckmann's greatest Paintings (my favorite though, being Departure), the triptych "The Beginning:"



(This painting is also not captured by internet renditions, like Departure, it cannot be captured on the internet, because like Departure it is a very large painting.)

I came across it in my wanderings, but it was in a weird place, among medieval triptychs, which were largely devoted to religious subjects, and totally divorced from Beckmann's culture.

The only relationship between this medieval religious art and Beckmann's painting is that they are triptychs. I suppose Beckmann had his reasons for choosing this format, and it is true that he died on the sidewalk beside Central Park on the way to see his first show at the Met, and so his relationship with the Met has special significance, but, I don't know, it struck me as weird.

In fact, I couldn't look at any of the other paintings in the room when I was in the room; the only medieval religious triptychs that interest me are those by Hironimus Bosch, most notably The Garden of Earthly Delights.

I'm not sure why The Met put Beckmann where they did, but it certainly struck me as a cultural clash, which was, perhaps, what the Curator had in mind.

[Sanity Claws]

1. I was unaware of how Beckman died.

I am also in awe of his paintings.

[Donkees]

2. Re: ''but it was in a weird place, among medieval triptychs,''

Medieval painting and iconography inspired him to create his series of triptychs. The mirror was an important symbol in medieval art symbolizing self awareness, truth, or vanity. The left panel of this triptych contains a mirror, spiritual beings, etc., within a window that suggests stained-glass leading. Triptychs involved storytelling, and this story is his.

Theological Perspectives on Max Beckmann’s Paintings

In 1927 he said: “Art is the mirror of God. That mirror is the human race. We ought not to deny that these mirror-images at certain times have been more marvelous [grossartiger] and more terrifying [erschuetternder] than they are today….” “There we have the image of ourselves [unser eigenes Bild].”

https://crossings.org/theological-perspectives-on-max-beckmanns-paintings/

(Gallery 601 at the Met can contain other related works besides medieval triptychs)

[NNadir]

3. OK, thanks. That may have been the curator's reasoning. As my son sometimes curates exhibits...

...I'll run that thought by him.

(I actually didn't discuss my annoyance at the placement with him, but I suspect he'll say it's reasonable. To be clear, he's not as fascinated by Beckmann as I am.)

As for Gallery 601, to be honest, I spent most of my time there with the Beckmann painting; I came across it close to closing.

[Donkees]

4. Met Renovation Project: "Most re-exhibited paintings have been re-hung in a new location.''

Most re-exhibited paintings have been re-hung in a new location. There are a few surprising exclamation points, like being faced with a famous Max Beckmann triptych in the second gallery, 601, along with Italian Renaissance. And quite appropriately, Chaim Soutine's 1924 "Ray Fish" is in 617, "Still Life". There's a Dali in "Spanish Religious", and Picassos beside El Greco. I found one work by a living artist, Kerry James Marshall, in the gallery titled "The Artist's Studio."
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k14588581-Met_Museum_European_Painting_Before_1800-New_York_City_New_York.html

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced that the 45 or so galleries dedicated to European art before 1800 will reopen to the public on November 20, 2023. If you want to read about this, the title of the exhibition is "Look Again: European Paintings 1300–1800" https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/look-again-european-paintings-1300-1800

The reopened galleries dedicated to European Paintings from 1300 to 1800 highlight fresh narratives and dialogues among more than 700 works of art from the Museum’s world-famous holdings. The newly reconfigured galleries—which include recently acquired paintings and prestigious loans, as well as select sculptures and decorative art—will showcase the interconnectedness of cultures, materials, and moments across The Met collection.

The reopening of the suite of 45 galleries at the top of the Great Hall staircase follows a five-year project to replace the skylights. This monumental infrastructure project improves the quality of light and enhances the viewing experience for a new look at this renowned collection.

Join curators Stephan Wolohojian, Adam Eaker, David Pullins, and Anna-Claire Stinebring along with their special guests as they guide you through the newly reopened galleries dedicated to European Paintings from 1300 to 1800. The reconfigured galleries highlight fresh narratives and dialogues among more than 700 works of art from the Museum’s world-famous holdings, which include recently acquired paintings and prestigious loans, as well as select sculptures and decorative art, showcase the interconnectedness of cultures, materials, and moments across The Met collection.

https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/look-again-european-paintings-1300-1800

[NNadir]

5. Thank you very much. You obviously know more about The Met than I do, and I appreciate your clarification...

...of the placement of the Beckmann.

In general, my family - either with just my oldest son and wife, or if he's in town from Graduate School, my youngest son - take only a few NYC museum trips per year, and the city is rich with great museums, The Modern, The Whitney, The Guggenheim and of course the galleries, so we get to The Met only, at best, every other year.

The Modern, of course, has Beckmann's Departure, which in my opinion is the equivalent of his Guernica, which he painted before Guernica, and before, in fact, the full extent of Nazi horror was even remotely clear, as horrid as it already was.

When I was a kid, I used to go see Guernica when it was at the Modern, and I saw it once in Spain, at Reina Sofia, where they have it hung high above the crowd. At the Modern, you could approach it.

It is, to my mind, the enormity of Guernica that reflected the (now unfortunately quaint) 1937 moral stance that any bombing from the air was an enormous crime against humanity. Thus the display at The Met let you feel that, far more than you can at Reina Sofia where you have to crane your neck to see it.

At that time I was unfamiliar with Beckmann - in fact I had no idea he existed - and was unable to appreciate that Departure had the value of moral prescience that escaped most people at the time, including, I suspect, Picasso.

I still don't like the placement of Beginnings at The Met, possibly because I am personally very uncomfortable with religious iconography, but I certainly appreciate the reasoning which you have so generously explored and shared.

Thanks, so much, again.

[Donkees]

6. Re: ''I still don't like the placement of Beginnings at The Met''

It appears that this is a permanent exhibit. For now, the Beckman is paired with a French renaissance altarpiece. I share your view about the placement.

Here is the current gallery pairing:

A Max Beckmann triptych finished in 1949, “The Beginning,” sits near the magnificent 16th-century Cellier Altarpiece by Jean Bellegambe, perhaps to suggest the myriad ways later artists refreshed their own vision through forays into the past, or simply to highlight the formal similarities, including the density of vertical figures in a tightly confined space.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/art/2024/01/18/met-european-galleries-renovation-new-york/

Max Beckman’s modern triptych, “The Beginning” (1946-49) hangs side-by-side with Jean Bellegambe’s “The Cellier Altarpiece” from 1509.
https://www.livinthehighline.com/

Painted in grisaille on the exterior of the wings is Bernard’s vision of the Virgin, who miraculously wet the saint’s lips with her milk. This scene would have been visible when the wings of the altarpiece were closed.