Perseus's Last Duty
1949
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 89.4 × 142 cm
- Status
- In Museum Collection
- Collect24 Art ID
- C24-109598
This painting depicts Perseus, a celebrated warrior from Greek mythology whose name derives from the Greek word "to waste, ravage, sack, destroy." Perseus’s most famous feat was cutting off Medusa’s head. Yet, the mass slaughter depicted here is not found in the ancient myth, but instead suggests a nightmarish allegory filled with private, enigmatic symbols, perhaps reflecting Beckmann’s experience of barely surviving two world wars. Traumatized while serving as a medical orderly during WWI, Beckmann later became the target of Nazi persecution. In 1947 he immigrated to the United States. Crea…
Provenance
Henry White Cannon by exchange, 2013.7
Registry history
- 1949 — Recorded in the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Registered on Collect24
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