Mann und Frau (Man and Woman) [p. 43] 

Curator: I am completely swept up in the melancholic quiet of this Max Beckmann drawing titled "Man and Woman." It feels incredibly intimate. Editor: Yes, that's my first impression too: reserved, and perhaps weary. What draws you to this particular piece within Beckmann's broader output? Curator: Well, this is a simple sketch on paper, yet there’s this incredibly powerful stillness in it. You've got this man with his head bowed and this woman gazing away, lost in some unspoken contemplation, they're physically close, yet worlds apart, a space between two souls. And it's pure German Expressionism, digging into that interior life. Editor: It is an interesting example of Expressionism. While its style does mirror some expressionist concerns, the very medium of drawing marks a degree of access into the working processes of an artist like Beckmann and moves toward a particular kind of subjectivity. We tend to assume his finished paintings represent the core of his artistic vision, and view the sketches as supplemental. Curator: I couldn't disagree more. To me, the immediacy of the line in this sketch *is* the core. The pencil almost dances with the feeling. The unfinished nature of the medium opens the artwork and shows a state of mind. You see his hesitations, his restarts—it becomes almost like a map of the artist's inner world, a record of the very moment of creation. It makes it utterly compelling. Editor: I find that a bit romantic. It seems crucial to understand Beckmann, this very image even, as embedded in a network of exhibitionary practices. What exactly does this image communicate and to whom? Is it really possible to get inside his head? Or is the power of the image merely reflecting our own interpretive impulses and interests back at us? Curator: Well, maybe it's a dialogue, a visual conversation between the artist and us, a sharing of human feeling in this space. The work makes that space possible and real, or I wouldn't be interested. It shows the possibility of empathy with Beckmann and even these figures he created. Editor: A fitting possibility, I suppose, to encourage an empathetic mode of seeing as we journey further into this collection. Curator: Absolutely. So simple and deep; such a rare thing!