Hamburg

Modern German art was a relative unknown for Beckett at the outset of his journey. During his two months in Hamburg, however, he became immersed in the contemporary art scene. He was introduced to art critics and historians, collectors, and artists, among them members of the Hamburger Sezession like Karl Ballmer, Rosa Schapire and Gretchen Wohlwill. From them, Beckett heard of the effects of the Nazi regime’s policies on artists and academics.

Beckett’s new connections also enabled him to view art that was otherwise being removed from public access. He visited Schapire’s “Wohnung full of Schmidt-Rottluff” (14/11/36), the private collections of H.C. Hudtwalcker and Max Sauerlandt, and the stacks of the Kunsthalle, where work deemed “degenerate” had been stashed.

Beckett’s experiences in Hamburg profoundly shaped his engagement with art. He picked up a keen interest in medieval sculpture and painting, and the conversation and work of the Swiss painter Ballmer influenced the fundamentals of Beckett’s thinking about themes such as the relationship between subject and object, surface and depth, or art and religion.