The IdeologistsSheet 5 of the series 'Hell' 1919

Max Beckmann made this lithograph, ‘The Ideologists’, which belongs to his ‘Hell’ series, sometime in the early 20th century. It feels like the printmaker was carving into the stone with fury; a jumble of black lines form these rather grimacing faces, all crammed together. Look at those eyes, wide with either shock or madness, it’s hard to tell which, really. I can imagine Beckmann, in some kind of crazed state, channeling the energy of the Weimar Republic, with its hyperinflation and political instability. Making prints, it is all about pressure. It's a forceful medium. The marks are so direct and raw. You can see the artist working through something, trying to make sense of the world through these angular lines and distorted figures. I guess all artists are ideologists in some ways! But what a vision— it makes you think about the darkness that can lurk beneath the surface of society, and it serves as a reminder of how art can reflect and respond to difficult times, but with a kind of scary beauty.