Der Mord 1933

Max Beckmann made this watercolour, Der Mord, using lots of greys, blues, and browns to create what looks like a crime scene. It’s all angles and shadows, making it feel kinda tense, right? There's something about the way Beckmann handles the watercolour that's really striking. It's like he's wrestling with the medium, letting the washes bleed and drip, but then tightening up with these sharp, almost brutal lines. Look at the way he renders the grid on the floor. It’s so precise, yet the colours are all murky and indistinct. It’s like he's trying to bring order to chaos, but the chaos keeps seeping through. The composition feels like a jumble of discarded objects, each with its own story. I can’t help but think about how his contemporary, Picasso, was exploring similar ideas about fractured space and fragmented forms, but Beckmann’s got this added layer of darkness, of psychological unease, that sets him apart. It leaves you with this sense of unresolved tension, like you’re witnessing something you shouldn’t be seeing.