Fontane 1926 - 1927

Curator: Max Liebermann's graphite drawing, "Fontane," completed between 1926 and 1927, captures a seemingly casual scene. Editor: It feels immediate. Look at the frantic marks suggesting foliage and movement. It conveys a sense of playful spontaneity—the pure joy of being in the moment. Curator: Indeed, but I think there's something more profound at play. Liebermann was a master of German Impressionism, and while he embraces realism, his works also tend to emphasize the social realm. Editor: Interesting! What’s also apparent is that the support structure seems incredibly handmade; those timbers must be roughhewn, suggesting a degree of local manufacturing... which hints toward class dimensions, too, perhaps. Curator: Exactly! The swing evokes a sense of community. The composition draws attention to that handmade quality, embedding its history in a very specific time and place. Children are being depicted, which is, itself, a political act—after all, what will society leave for future generations? Editor: The labor of construction. Note also how light plays across surfaces; it illuminates the means and matter equally. Is Liebermann pointing us toward our impact on what we make? Curator: Perhaps—and more deeply, he acknowledges the shared humanity present. Despite potential class and societal divides, a universal childhood experience brings a sense of unity. Liebermann’s position in Weimar Germany must have been one where cultural pessimism played a huge role; to paint children might have felt hopeful, in some small way. Editor: He uses a rather restrained palette, it still invites introspection. "Fontane" provides a fleeting glance at an ordinary moment but offers, when looking a little deeper, quite an intense feeling, when we recognize how the construction of a piece of childhood simplicity holds a world of meaning within it. Curator: Precisely. The piece functions not just as documentation, but as a quiet, optimistic declaration about society and survival through shared human moments.