Portrait of the Composer Fredrik Delius (Bildnis des Komponisten Fredrik Delius)

The eclectic musical compositions of Frederick Delius, a child of German-born parents, fit into the English pastoral tradition but were touched by influences as diverse as Edvard Grieg and Negro spirituals. After the First World War, Delius’s health declined steadily, and by the time of this portrait, he was so weak that he relied on his wife for much of his correspondence and musical copying. Despite increasing blindness and physical paralysis, he continued composing with the help of an amanuensis named Eric Fenby. Germany was the country where Delius had his first professional success. Max Beckmann drew this portrait at the Frankfurt home of Dr. Heinrich Simon, a prosperous newspaper owner and music lover, with whom Delius and his wife were staying during the winter 1922-23. Throughout Beckmann’s years in Frankfurt, 1915-25, Simon promoted his art in the progressive Frankfurter Zeitung newspaper, which he partly owned and edited.