Beckmann Sketchbook 13 1915 - 1917

This is Max Beckmann's "Sketchbook 13", with drawings made in pencil and ink. Beckmann really understood the power of simple materials to capture complex emotions. I like how the surface of this sketchbook cover shows marks of use and time. Those smudges and stains tell a story of their own, don't they? The brown paper and the off-white canvas binding have a really tactile quality. It feels like you could reach out and touch the fibers. In the lower half, there's a spot of old glue, almost like a ghostly, melted figure. It makes me wonder what Beckmann was thinking, what he was feeling, as he carried this sketchbook around. Beckmann's work always feels like a bit of a mystery, and that's what makes it so compelling. He reminds me a little of Philip Guston, actually. Both of them had this way of making paintings that feel both deeply personal and totally universal at the same time. Art is never really finished, it's just a moment in an ongoing conversation.