Beckmann Sketchbook 2 1910 - 1947

This sketchbook was made by Max Beckmann, and well, there’s not a lot to see here, is there? Just a dirty old cover, but like a painter’s palette, it’s a record of use. The texture of the cover is worn smooth in places and rough in others, and those stains and marks aren’t just dirt, they’re evidence of the artist's process, all the things that happen when you're in the middle of making something. It's all about how you engage with the materials at hand and let that guide you. Beckmann was a great draughtsman, and I imagine he was always sketching, even obsessively. This reminds me of Cy Twombly’s sketchbooks; he wasn’t so precious about his materials either. Both artists have that amazing ability to turn the simplest materials into something profound. It’s about the artist's touch, and that’s something you can’t fake.