Perseus's Last Duty

Also known as: Perseus' Last Duty

About the Artwork

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. Created in the aftermath of the Holocaust and under the Cold War threat of nuclear annihilation, this painting suggests a bitter critique of mankind’s propensity for destruction. Presenting Perseus in female dress subverts the hypermasculine glamorization of military heroes common to national historical myths.

Inscriptions

signed lower middle: "Beckmann NY 49"

Provenance

Estate of the Artist, sold to Catherine Viviano Gallery 1962: (Catherine Viviano Gallery, New York, NY, 1962, sold to Stanley J. Seeger) 1962-2001: Stanley J. Seeger [1930-2011], New York, NY and London, United Kingdom, consigned to Sotheby's NY for sale 2001: (Sotheby's, New York, NY, May 8, 2001, sold to Private Collection) 2013: (French & Co., New York, NY, 2013, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art ) 2013-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Quick Overview

Artist: Max Beckmann (German, 1884–1950)
Date: 1949
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: Framed: 125 x 178.5 x 8.5 cm (49 3/16 x 70 1/4 x 3 3/8 in.); Unframed: 89.4 x 142 cm (35 3/16 x 55 7/8 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
Credit line: Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange
Accession no.: 2013.7

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.