1933, Max Beckmann, Der kleine Fisch (The Little Fish) -- Pompidou Center (Paris)
From the museum label: Beginning in the 1930s, Beckmann's use of water symbols gives other dimensions to his ordinary scenes.
A young man on a beach is offering a freshly caught fish to two lady bathers. The offering would seem innocent if the animal were not positioned in line with the man's sexual organs. Metaphor of love and fertility, the work is dedicated to his young wife, Quappi. But Max Beckmann also seizes this ancient symbol of knowledge and wisdom to make it the emblem of his fight against Nazi persecutions and the rise of barbarism.
1933, Max Beckmann, Der kleine Fisch (The Little Fish) -- Pompidou Center (Paris)
From the museum label: Beginning in the 1930s, Beckmann's use of water symbols gives other dimensions to his ordinary scenes.
A young man on a beach is offering a freshly caught fish to two lady bathers. The offering would seem innocent if the animal were not positioned in line with the man's sexual organs. Metaphor of love and fertility, the work is dedicated to his young wife, Quappi. But Max Beckmann also seizes this ancient symbol of knowledge and wisdom to make it the emblem of his fight against Nazi persecutions and the rise of barbarism.