Male Portrait Study and Notes (Männerakte in Rückenansicht in einem Bad) [p. 18] 

Max Beckmann made this study, "Male Portrait Study and Notes" with graphite on paper. The strokes are quick and light, capturing the essence of human form. It's a snapshot of the artist's process, raw and immediate. The material here is humble, but it speaks volumes. Graphite, born from the earth, is ground and formed into a tool for capturing light and shadow. The marks on the page are fleeting, tentative, yet they build to create a solid form. We can almost feel the weight and tension in the body laid out before us. What's interesting here is the artist's labor and intellectual labor; the way that Beckmann is thinking through the possibilities of representation, the way he's using his skills of observation and mark-making to capture a very simple, basic depiction of the figure. It reminds us that art isn't always about grand gestures; sometimes it's about the quiet, daily work of seeing and understanding the world around us.