The Smoker (Self-Portrait) 1916

Max Beckmann made this self-portrait etching, The Smoker, using lines like he was trying to capture smoke itself. The way he's worked at the surface of the plate has this anxious and energized quality, it really lets you into his process. The texture in this piece comes from those etched lines - and they're not shy, are they? Look how they pile up, making the face almost seem to vibrate. There's something unnerving about the way he's rendered his own features, like he's seeing himself from the inside out. The lines around the eyes especially, that kind of frantic energy, it really resonates with the angst of the time. Beckmann's raw approach reminds me of Otto Dix. Both of them were grappling with the world around them through these really intense self-portraits, pushing the boundaries of what art could be. It's all about embracing the messy, the unresolved. Art's not about answers, it's about the questions, right?