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In this self-portrait, Beckmann reflected on his inner emotional state as well as external social circumstances: in 1921, when the ‘Self-portrait as Clown‘ was painted, Beckmann was 37 years old. He was in a phase of personal upheaval. After serving as a medic in the First World War in Belgium, he had suffered a nervous breakdown. The processing of these experiences and his recovery took time. Beckmann did not return to his wife Minna Tube and his son Peter in Berlin, but lived in Frankfurt.

In the painting, Beckmann presents himself with attributes from the world of jesters: harlequin collar, jester's platform, mask and horn. His serious facial features refer to the type of melancholic, sad clown known in the form of the ‚Pierrot‘, the sad clown from the ‚Commedia dell'arte‘. Artists have always identified with clowns and jesters, most of whom lived as marginal figures in society. Beckmann's self-portrait is also in this tradition. He sits withdrawn in a room that seems to have come apart at the seams. The mirror and curtain hang askew, and the armchair on which the artist is sitting almost tips to one side. Beckmann demonstratively stretches out his right arm. His dark blue veins on the pale skin are recognisable. This gesture refers to depictions of Jesus Christ as the Man of Sorrows. Through this deliberate staging of his body, Beckmann stylises himself as a suffering artist on the fringes of society. Since his childhood, Beckmann had admired the world of theatre, circus and vaudeville. For him they were symbols of society. Accordingly, the world as a stage, the spectacle of life, often became a theme in his artistic works.