Stadtansicht (Cityscape) [p. 19] 

Max Beckmann made this pencil drawing, Stadtansicht, or Cityscape, in 1926. Beckmann was one of many German artists who turned to cityscapes in the interwar period. But his images, unlike those of some of his contemporaries, often have a detached quality. Here, we see the skyline of Prague. The drawing emphasizes its maze-like density, the eye led from building to building, bridge to bridge, and tower to tower. This was a time of enormous social upheaval in Europe, with new republics rising out of the ashes of empires. What did these new urban spaces mean for the populations that inhabited them? Were they places of freedom or control, beauty or alienation? Beckmann lived through the First World War and saw first-hand the chaos that had been unleashed. By studying the history and culture of interwar Europe, we can better understand the social forces that shaped the production and reception of art in this period.