Bildnis Marie-Louise von Motesiczky 1924

Max Beckmann made this portrait of Marie-Louise von Motesiczky using graphite on paper. The first thing that strikes me is the incredible lightness of touch, and the confidence of the artist to use so few marks to conjure a likeness. The paper has a slight texture, which catches the graphite in such a way that the image almost shimmers. It is very lightly worked, but the artist has used heavier marks to define the eyes, nose and mouth. The eyes are particularly captivating; dark pools that seem to be gazing somewhere beyond the picture plane. I love the simplicity of the earring, just three circles hanging in space. It feels like an intimate sketch, almost as though we are intruding on a private moment between artist and sitter. There’s a similar portrait by Lucian Freud, who was heavily influenced by Beckmann; both artists capture something of the sitter’s inner life through deceptively simple means. Art's not about answers; it's more about interesting questions, right?