William Kentridge on Max Beckmann’s 1938 painting ‘Death (Tod)’

Watch a new short film by William Kentridge in which he anatomizes Max Beckmann’s magisterial and mysterious 1938 painting ‘Death (Tod)’, on the occasion of the opening of the exhibition “Max Beckmann” at Hauser & Wirth Basel. Beckmann’s meditation on mortality interests Kentridge, he says, in part because it is “a reversal picture. One is not certain what it top and what is bottom, what is heaven and what is hell.”

“Max Beckmann” is on view at Hauser & Wirth Basel from 4 June through 11 July 2026.

William Kentridge is internationally acclaimed for his artworks, theater and opera productions. He combines drawing and erasing, tearing, gestural painting, collage, weaving, casting, writing, film, performance, music, theater and collaborative practices to create works of art that are grounded in politics, science, literature and history.

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Hauser & Wirth is an international contemporary and modern art gallery with spaces in Zurich, London, Somerset, New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, St. Moritz, Monaco, Menorca, Paris and Basel.

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Видео William Kentridge on Max Beckmann’s 1938 painting ‘Death (Tod)’ канала Hauser & Wirth – Art Gallery