Snake Lady
1921
Max Beckmann’s 'Snake Lady' throws us right into the gritty, chaotic world of a 1920s circus sideshow. The central figure stares out with heavy-lidded eyes, sporting a starry headband and a snake draped around her neck like a fashionable scarf, while a mysterious man in a striped outfit stands with his back turned in the background. Created in 1921 during the height of German Expressionism, this piece uses jagged, bold lines to capture the raw anxiety and absurdity of post-WWI life. Beckmann often used circus performers to symbolize the human condition, making this woman look both powerful and strangely vulnerable.
- Technique
- etching/drypoint
- Material
- print on paper
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