Zwei Skizzen und Notizen (Two Sketches with Notations) [p. 17] 1914 - 1915

Here we have Max Beckmann's sketchbook drawings, made with ink on paper. These aren’t finished works; they are two brief notations, made for himself. I sympathize with the artist. Sketchbooks are so revealing, right? It's like, what's he thinking? It looks like some kind of reflection of society in the early 20th century. Maybe he's thinking about the people he's seeing, or the absurdity of their poses. I love how a single line can do so much, defining a figure with very few strokes, and giving a feeling of a time. What do they mean? That’s the puzzle. For me, Beckmann is in conversation with a lot of artists. You think about the German Expressionists, Otto Dix, Grosz, and how they turned to the figure as a way to understand modern life. And then there's the legacy of drawing, of Daumier and Goya, and how they used the graphic image to express their view of the world. All art comes from other art.