Mehrfigurige Kompositionsskizze (Figural Composition) [p. 9] 1918 - 1919

Max Beckmann made this drawing, Mehrfigurige Kompositionsskizze, or Figural Composition, with graphite on graph paper. It’s a sketch, so it's all about the bones of the composition, the bare minimum needed to get the idea across. Beckmann's marks are so quick, so intuitive. The figures emerge from a tangle of lines, a few loops here, a sharp angle there. I’m drawn to the figure at the bottom, reclining, almost dissolving back into the grid. It’s like he’s asking, “How little can I do and still have it read as a body?” It reminds me a bit of Picasso, this way of breaking down the figure, abstracting it, but still keeping it grounded in a human experience. Both artists wrestled with how to represent the complexities of the human condition through form, but Beckmann has a darkness, a seriousness, that sets him apart. In the end, it’s this ambiguity, this openness to interpretation, that keeps us coming back.