Die Hölle
Artist: Max Beckmann (German, 1884-1950)
Date: 1919
Dimensions:
Book: H: 16 in. (406 mm); W: 10 3/8 in. (264 mm); Depth: 1/8 in. (3 mm).
Page: H: 15 5/8 in. (397 mm); W: 10 1/8 in. (257 mm).
Medium: Reproductions: 10 photolithographs of lithographs on ivory wove paper.
Classification: Books
Credit Line: Gift of Molly and Walter Bareiss
Object number: 1984.257
Label Text:Beckmann's cycle of ten prints was published both in an album of original lithographs and, as here, in an inexpensive book of reproductions for wide distribution. Beckmann presents a lacerating exposure of the wretchedness of life in defeated Germany. In The Martyrdom, he depicts the torture and murder of Communist leader Rosa Luxemburg, committed during the suppression of the Sparticist uprising in January 1919. Mocked and brutalized by sadistic soldiers and grinning officials before darkened church towers, Luxemburg's death is made to recall innumerable scenes of Christian martyrdom.
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