The Dream 1921

Max Beckmann painted this enigmatic oil on canvas, “The Dream,” sometime around 1921, in Germany. It is a chaotic scene of figures crammed into a claustrophobic space, leaving us unsure how to interpret the moment. Beckmann’s work of the 1920s reflects the social trauma of post-war Germany. Defeat in the war and the punitive terms of the Versailles Treaty had generated hyperinflation and political instability. Institutions such as the military and the church were widely discredited. Expressionist artists like Beckmann turned away from traditional values in search of a new visual language that could represent the anxieties of modern experience. The nightmarish character of “The Dream” speaks to the artist’s disillusionment and the wider sense of crisis in German society. The bizarre costumes and disorienting space suggest a world turned upside down. To understand it better, look into the Expressionist movement and the cultural history of the Weimar Republic. The meaning of art lies in the social and institutional context in which it is made.