I don't want to eat my Soup (Original Title)Blatt 6 aus der Mappe „Day and Dream“ 1946

Max Beckmann made this etching, "I Don't Want to Eat My Soup," as part of a portfolio called "Day and Dream." It's all about lines, isn’t it? Scratchy, nervous lines that build up to make these intense figures. Look at the woman holding the spoon. The way Beckmann uses these cross-hatched lines to create shadows and volume is just wild. You can almost feel the tension in her hand, the weight of the soup about to be spoon-fed to the child. And that kid with its head down on the table! The scribbled mess of lines perfectly captures the feeling of a kiddo not wanting to do something they are told to do. Beckmann’s prints always remind me of Otto Dix, with their stark, unflinching look at the world. Both of them were part of that New Objectivity movement in Germany. They weren’t trying to make pretty pictures; they were trying to capture something raw and real. It’s like they’re saying, "Here it is, the world in all its messy glory. What are you going to do about it?"