Verworfene Skizze (Figure Crossed Out) [p. 11] 

This ink drawing, "Verworfene Skizze" or "Figure Crossed Out," was created by Max Beckmann, a German artist, on a simple notebook page. The dominant feature is a figure aggressively marked out with bold lines. The act of crossing out, of obliterating an image, echoes ancient practices of damnatio memoriae—condemning a figure by erasing their memory. Think of defaced Roman portraits, where the destruction of the image was meant to erase the person's existence from history. This act is not merely destructive; it is a potent symbol of rejection. The intense, frustrated energy in Beckmann's sketch reminds us that even in the act of negation, the artist reveals something profound about the creative process, about the struggle between intention and execution, and about the emotional investment in the images we create and then discard. The image, though rejected, retains a spectral presence, a visual echo of what once was, haunting the page with its absence. The cyclical nature of creation and destruction echoes through art history. The crossed-out figure is a recurring motif of the rejection, destruction, and ultimate rebirth of images and ideas.