Departure (Beckmann)

Departure is an oil-on-canvas triptych by the German artist Max Beckmann begun in Frankfurt in 1932 and completed in Berlin from 1933 to 1935. It was the first of nine triptychs that the artist created. The panels, according to Beckmann, are named The Castle (left), The Homecoming (middle) and The Staircase (right). The paintings have all the same height (215.5 cm) and the middle panel, with 115 cm, is only slightly wider than the other two, which have 99.5 cm in length. It is one of his best-known triptychs and is held at the Museum of Modern Art, in New York.