männliche Bildnisstudie (Male Portrait) [p. 13] 1944 - 1949

Max Beckmann’s ‘Male Portrait’ captures a study of a man’s face with a few pencil lines on paper. The first impression is one of simplicity, yet the more you look, the more the lines reveal. Beckmann's method of portraiture reflects a broader artistic concern with the fragmentation of the self. Instead of presenting a unified, coherent identity, the lines suggest a man composed of disparate elements. Note how the face is framed by asymmetrical strokes, mirroring the sense of unease that defines much of Beckmann's work. The face seems to challenge the viewer, not through direct eye contact but through the very structure of its composition. The portrait questions the nature of identity itself, suggesting that what we see is not a complete, knowable entity, but rather a constructed image, subject to the same forces of fragmentation and distortion that define the modern experience.