The Yawners, 1918

Plate 7 of: Gesichter, München: Marées Gesellschaft und Piper, 1919

Blatt: 444 x 370 mm
Platte: 308 x 255 mm

Physical Description: Drypoint etching on laid paper Fourth state (of IV)

Inventory Number: SG 3048

Object Number: SG 3048 D

Acquisition: Acquired in 1949 from the collection of Ugi and Fridel Battenberg

Status: Can be presented in the study room of the Graphische Sammlung (special opening hours)

Texts

About the Work

Beckmann executed this unusual society portrait in 1918. It depicts the artist (top centre) and several of his friends, among them Ugi Battenberg (picking his nose) and his wife Fridel (bottom right). Arranged densely one above and beside the other on a single plane, their heads are locked into place by elements of a claustrophobic bourgeois living room. Only the servant is free of the boredom that has all the guests yawning so deeply that communication is at a standstill. ‘The Yawners’ is to be understood as a metaphor for the stupor and apathy of society.

Work Data

Basic Information

Title: The Yawners
Plate 7 of: Gesichter, München: Marées Gesellschaft und Piper, 1919

Artist

Max Beckmann

Publisher

Marées Gesellschaft Publishing House - R. Piper & Co. (Munich)

Edition: Einer von 60 Abzügen von der verstählten Platte

Period Produced

20th century

Object Type

art print

Physical Description: Drypoint etching on laid paper Fourth state (of IV)

Material

Vergé paper

Technique

dry point

Geographic Reference

German

Label at the Time of Manufacture: Bezeichnet in der Platte oben links (spiegelverkehrt): Beckmann / Sommer Hermsdorf 1918
Signiert unterhalb der Darstellung rechts (mit Bleistift): Beckmann
Prägestempel der Marées-Gesellschaft unten links

Captions Added Later: Verso bezeichnet unten rechts (mit Bleistift): Gl. 110
Verso Stempel der Städtischen Galerie, Frankfurt am Main (Lugt 2371c), mit zugehöriger Inventarnummer

Watermark

Nicht vorhanden

Work Catalogues

Hofmaier 129 IV B b
Gallwitz 100
Glaser 110
Beckmann-Liste 113

Property and Acquisition

Institution

Städel Museum

Administration

Department of Prints and Drawings

Collection

Städtische Galerie

Creditline: Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main

Picture Copyright: Public Domain

Acquisition: Acquired in 1949 from the collection of Ugi and Fridel Battenberg

Work Content

Motifs and References

Genre

Persons Shown

Iconclass

Primary

61B2(BECKMANN, Max)13(+511) historical person (BECKMANN, Max) - historical person (BECKMANN, Max) portrayed in a group, in a group-portrait (+ full face portrait)
61B2(BECKMANN, Max)13 historical person (BECKMANN, Max) - historical person (BECKMANN, Max) portrayed in a group, in a group-portrait
61B2(BATTENBERG, Ugi)13(+512) historical person (BATTENBERG, Ugi) - historical person (BATTENBERG, Ugi) portrayed in a group, in a group-portrait (+ three-quarter view portrait)
61B2(BATTENBERG, Ugi)13 historical person (BATTENBERG, Ugi) - historical person (BATTENBERG, Ugi) portrayed in a group, in a group-portrait
61BB2(BATTENBERG, Fridel)13(+512) historical person (BATTENBERG, Fridel) - BB - woman - historical person (BATTENBERG, Fridel) portrayed in a group, in a group-portrait (+ three-quarter view portrait)
61BB2(BATTENBERG, Fridel)13 historical person (BATTENBERG, Fridel) - BB - woman - historical person (BATTENBERG, Fridel) portrayed in a group, in a group-portrait
31B14 yawning