Evening (Self-Portrait with the Battenbergs), 1916

About the Work

In a letter to the publisher Reinhard Piper of 9 March 1917, Beckmann described this drypoint etching as one of his “best works”. We see the Battenberg couple: Ugi completely absorbed in his glass, Fridel contemplative, on her lap the cat she was so often portrayed with. Beckmann’s own demonic-looking face pushes itself between the two like a wedge. The drypoint technique accounts for the soft look of the cat’s fur. As a vehicle for conveying the mood the artist described as “latently erotic”, the pet also bears symbolic significance.