(1884-1950) German Expressionist painter and graphic artist. He was influenced both by medieval art and by the Neue Sachlichkeit movement and after World War I his art concentrated on themes of cruelty in human society, as in Night 1918–19 (Kunstsammlung Nardrheim-Westfalen, Düsseldorf).
Beckmann was born in Leipzig. He fought in World War I and was discharged following a breakdown, reflected in the agony of his work. Denounced by the Nazi regime (see Degenerate Art), he moved to Amsterdam where he began a series of complex allegorical works. He spent the last three years of his life in the US.