Zirkusnummer mit Seehunden (Seal Trainer) [p. 5] 

Max Beckmann sketched this drawing called "Seal Trainer" with graphite on paper. This is one of several circus scenes from his sketchbooks, which are held in museums today. Beckmann, a German artist, lived through both World Wars, and his art often reflects the instability of that time. He worked in the Expressionist style, in which he tried to represent inner emotions rather than create realistic images. The circus, for him, was not merely a site of entertainment but also a metaphor for the chaos and absurdity of modern life. The sketch contains dynamic lines which seem to capture the energy of the circus. At the same time, the seal trainer’s face and the seals’ eyes suggest an underlying sense of melancholy. To understand this work better, one might research the cultural significance of the circus in early 20th-century Germany, the history of Expressionism as an artistic movement, or the biography of Max Beckmann himself. Art history examines the relationship between art and its wider social and institutional context.