Trabrennen II 

Max Slevogt made this drawing, Trabrennen II, using graphite or a similar drawing medium on paper. The quick, energetic marks suggest immediacy, as if Slevogt was capturing a fleeting moment. This directness is enhanced by the choice of paper, an inexpensive and readily available material. It allows for a kind of spontaneous record-keeping, a casualness at odds with the more laboured approach of oil painting. The subject matter, too, emphasizes the everyday. Trabrennen translates to harness racing, a popular spectacle. The sketches evoke a sense of observation, like a social commentary from the artist. Here, the labor is not Slevogt's, but that of the drivers and horses, all working in concert for entertainment, and perhaps profit. In foregrounding both process and subject, Slevogt blurs the lines between high art and reportage, finding artistic value in the act of simply looking and recording.