Still Life with Two Large Candles

This work shows a lit, upright candle alongside a fallen and extinguished one. To the left and right are a sculpture of a female head and an arrangement of orchids. Max Beckmann used candles as traditional symbols of the fleeting nature of life; here, he places them within a modern composition of interlocking shapes, reflecting the influence of Pablo Picasso. The work is inscribed "St L" at top left, indicating that it was painted in St. Louis, shortly after Beckmann's arrival to the city in 1947.

Credit: Bequest of Morton D. May