Tanzendes Paar und Zuschauer (Couple Dancing with Onlooker) [p. 94] 1927

Max Beckmann made this pencil drawing, ‘Couple Dancing with Onlooker’, in a sketchbook. What I love about sketches is how raw and immediate they are. You can really see the artist thinking, almost like a map of their mind as they figure something out. Beckmann uses these quick, scratchy lines to capture a sense of movement, the energy of the dance, the weight of the bodies. I bet he was trying to capture a fleeting moment, a feeling of joy or maybe even tension in the scene. Looking at it, I can almost feel the music and imagine the expressions on their faces. I love that we can see this because it pulls you right into Beckmann's world. He’s showing us how he sees and feels, like he’s saying, "Hey, check this out, isn't this wild?" For me, art's always been about that sharing, that conversation between the artist and whoever's looking.