männliche Bildnisstudie (Male Portrait Study) [p. 31] 1927

This "Male Portrait Study" was quickly sketched by Max Beckmann, and you can see the image made out of these very immediate pencil lines. It's like he’s feeling his way through the form. I notice this shorthand, especially around the nose and mouth, where these clustered marks almost become the thing they’re describing. The face has this tentative quality like he’s trying to capture something fleeting. I love the ambiguity; it’s a study, an exercise. The lines are kind of raw, nothing is hidden, it's all process. You can see the way the artist circles back, rethinking the planes of the face. It reminds me a little of Giacometti's drawings. There's a similar search for essence, a willingness to let the process be visible, even messy. It's a reminder that art is a conversation, a process of searching and questioning, rather than a fixed statement.