Schlafender Mann (Sleeping Man) [p. 44] 

Max Beckmann made this sketch of a sleeping man with graphite on paper. Beckmann lived through both World Wars, and his art often grapples with the human condition amidst chaos and destruction. Here, we see a man in repose, a figure vulnerable in his sleep. Is this an intimate moment, or a depiction of exhaustion in a war-torn world? Beckmann was known for his interest in the theater, and here we see the subject as a study in the construction of masculinity. The work offers an alternative to traditional narratives of heroism and strength. Instead, we have a quiet, perhaps melancholic, meditation on vulnerability. The artist himself said: “Art is magic… But how is it magic? In its simplest form it is an attempt to make things eternal by giving them form.” Consider how Beckmann captures a moment of human vulnerability, transforming it into something timeless.