Flamingos c. 1919

Curator: This drawing is Max Beckmann’s "Flamingos," dating from around 1919. It’s a pencil sketch on paper. Editor: Well, that’s… different. It looks more like an abstract puzzle than a depiction of elegant birds! The line work feels so tentative, almost unfinished. Curator: True. It’s not the romantic vision of flamingos one might expect. Beckmann's known for a darker take. There is an immediacy, a raw energy in the sketch that speaks volumes. He captures their essential form and creates the atmosphere of some strange aviary. Notice the network of almost frenetic lines around the figures. Editor: I see the flamingos’ serpentine necks echoed in that jumble of background lines—a clever formal move that merges the figures and the setting. And I’m drawn to how he captures light with simple pencil hatching, creating texture and shadow. It is a kind of strange aviary! There’s a real push and pull, spatially. It never quite resolves. Curator: Perhaps that reflects the emotional turbulence of the era. This was right after the First World War, a time of profound uncertainty. Beckmann himself suffered during the war, and this drawing could be a way to express some feeling he held towards how delicate society could be at the time. Editor: That gives a fresh context. I get a sense of fragility here, like these creatures might just dissolve back into those restless lines, back into that uncertainty, back into war itself. Curator: Absolutely. I find it so interesting to observe this intimate glimpse into the artist's creative process. The final strokes may seem hesitant but speak louder about that vulnerability than polished grandeur could. Editor: I completely agree. Now, the tentative nature feels less like indecision and more like a deliberate expression of instability and anxiety. It certainly reframes how I view the artwork and the historical era that accompanied it. Curator: It shows that incompleteness and ambiguity can be powerful artistic statements in themselves, doesn't it? Editor: It truly does! Thanks for sharing this special viewing of "Flamingos"!