Reclining Nude 1929

Max Beckmann made this painting, Reclining Nude, in oil on canvas. It's all about the architecture of form, the way he builds up the planes of the body with these confident, almost geometric strokes. You can tell he's thinking about how the painting itself is constructed, right? Look at how he's used colour to carve out the figure, that fleshy pink against the cool blues and blacks. It’s not subtle, but it’s so effective. The paint is laid on thick, almost sculptural in places, especially around the torso and limbs. There’s this tension between the softness of the subject and the roughness of the painting itself. My eyes keep going to the way he’s rendered the shadows. It's a real masterclass in finding the abstract in the everyday. Beckmann’s work has this raw, almost confrontational quality that reminds me a little of some of Otto Dix's portraits. Both artists share that interest in depicting the human figure in all its messy, imperfect glory. Neither of them were afraid to push the boundaries and challenge our notions of beauty and representation. Art is a conversation, and these artists are definitely worth listening to.