In den Dünen 1909

Max Liebermann captured this scene "In den Dünen" with a sparse, almost melancholy palette of graphite on paper. Can you imagine him out there on the dunes, squinting against the sea air, trying to capture that fleeting moment? I love the way Liebermann uses these scratchy, anxious lines to suggest the unstable, shifting surface of the dunes. It's all about gesture, that quick flick of the wrist to create the sense of movement. Look at the figure walking into the distance. They are rendered with such simple, economic marks, yet they evoke this feeling of solitude, a tiny speck against the vastness of nature. It makes me think about how much artists learn from each other. You can see traces of Impressionism in the way Liebermann is trying to capture the light and atmosphere, but there’s also something uniquely personal and modern about his mark-making. It's like he's whispering secrets about the human condition. We all do it, borrowing ideas, twisting them, and making something entirely new!