Liegende Frau in Wäsche (Woman in Corset Reclining ) [p. 70] 1927

Max Beckmann made this drawing of a woman in a corset reclining, probably in a sketchbook, sometime in the 1920s. What strikes me is the economy of line, how he manages to suggest so much with so little. It’s all about the gesture. The real tension is in the way Beckmann renders the hand obscuring the face. The lines are scribbled, chaotic even, but somehow, they give shape to the form. Look at the way the lines vary in pressure, some soft and blurred, others sharp and defined. It's like he's feeling his way around the subject, trying to capture not just the likeness but the weight, the mood, the feeling of the figure. Beckmann reminds me of another master of line, Egon Schiele. Both were interested in the raw, visceral aspects of the human experience, and both used the figure as a vehicle to explore those themes. And like Schiele, Beckmann reminds us that art isn't about perfection or accuracy; it's about expression, emotion, and the messy, beautiful process of trying to make sense of the world.