Skizze mit Bezeichnung (Sketch with Inscription) [p. 16] 1918 - 1919

This is a page from a sketchbook by Max Beckmann. It’s got that pale graph paper, and energetic scribbles on it in pencil. I can almost hear the scratching of the graphite on the page, feel the urgency of his hand trying to capture… something. You know, it’s like he's wrestling with an idea. You see this kind of searching in a lot of his work. These loose lines, they aren't precious, they’re exploratory. I imagine him grappling with a composition, maybe for one of his triptychs, working it out in real-time. It feels raw, like a glimpse into his thought process. And the inscription too – a little note to himself, or someone else? Beckmann's paintings often have this dense, layered quality to them. This sketch, it’s like the seed of that. And when I see a drawing like this, I feel connected to the whole history of mark-making, to all the artists who’ve picked up a pencil or brush and tried to make sense of the world. We’re all just trying to figure it out, one mark at a time.