Dream of Monte Carlo
Max Beckmann, 1943
Image not available: work still under copyright
Dream of Monte Carlo is an oil on canvas that Max Beckmann painted between 1939 and 1943, while he was living in exile in Amsterdam. It starts from a visit to the Monte Carlo casino in 1939, yet the picture has little to do with leisure. Beckmann turns the gaming room into a theatrical, allegorical stage where croupiers, masked figures and gamblers share the space. In the foreground stand women of different ages; behind them, croupiers handle sword-like objects on the table, producing an almost ritual motion. In the background, two masked figures advance carrying flaming spheres that are usually read as bombs or as omens of destruction. The palette of deep reds, blacks and ochres, together with the firm outlines, is typical of Beckmann's late manner. The painting is generally read as a reflection on chance, moral corruption, mortality and the collapse of European civilisation under war and totalitarianism. Some figures have been linked to real people from the artist's circle, although these identifications remain debated among specialists.
- Painter
- Max Beckmann
- Date
- 1943
- Medium
- oil paint, canvas
- Dimensions
- 160 × 200 cm
- Museum
- Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Stuttgart
- Genre
- group portrait, allegory
- Depicts
- woman, man