MET's "Max Beckmann in NY" More Like a Man Without A Country

"Max Beckmann in New York" opens at the MET. The tragic irony of Max in NY is macabre.  Enroute to the MET to see his most recent "Self-Portrait in Blue Jacket" on display, he suffered a fatal heart attack near his apt. on the UWS.  The colorful & bold works in this astonishing exhibit includes 7  self-portraits & all 14 paintings he made during the relatively short time living in New York.  Born in German 1884,  Beckmann had a modicum of success with his bold, colorful expressionistic paintings until the Nat'l Socialist deemed his work degenerate and conviscated his paintings from the National Musuems & precluded future sales of his work.  Beckmann emigrated to Holland in 1937.   He lived in Holland for 10 years until he was allowed to immigrate to the U.S.  He immigrated to the U.S. in 1947 to St Louis and then to NYC in 1949.  Beckmann served as a medic in WWI and his paintings, including his self-portraits in the 1920's contain a volatile energy, a sense of hostility and a hardened, aristocratic edge.  In his "Self-Portrait with White Hat" Bechmanns portrays strength & audaciousness.  The curation claims the artist favored himself as a subject.  I would argue his sense of urgency lent himself a ready & willing subject.   Within his self-portraitures he emotes strong feelings, contrary to the  dull eyed stares in many artists' self-portraits.  I also contend his favorite subject to be his beloved wife Quappi.  Quappi's beauty & resolve are highlighted.  She is pictured with vigor in a blue bathing suit & within luxurious settings, perhaps in homage to their more carefree lifestyle.  There are 2 very large triptychs on display.  The triptychs are remarkable for their imaginative & biographical storytelling.  A young Beckmann is pictured with a golden crown, mounted on a white stallion banishing a saber & in the classroom passing a nude drawing to another student.  Beckmann was intrigued with nightclubs, musicians, entertainers & nightlife.  Upon arriving in NYC Beckmann commented "NYC is a pre-war Berlin multiplied a hundred fold."  Perhaps this is meant to be harsh or liberating.  His paintings of the nightlife in NYC are similiar to paintings Nazi's termed corrupt.  I liked the portrait "The Old Actress" ('26) a melancholy, downcast woman with a cat on her   It reminded me of CATS & its song "Memories."  There are 4 picturesque NYC landscapes; rare subject in his oeuvre.  Make note of "Birds of Hell" ('38) & "Town and City Night" ('50.) Spurned in his homeland, at odds in Holland & relatively new to the US, Beckmann continued to paint with vivid colors & imageries with a bent towards debauchery & a feeling of detachment.