Rider on the Beach Facing Left 1911

Max Liebermann made this painting of a rider on a beach with oil on canvas. You can tell Liebermann is really getting after it with the brush - or maybe even a palette knife - as he captures this scene. Look closely at the marks he’s making: see how the dabs of paint almost seem to dance on the surface? Up close, you can see how the sandy yellows and browns get broken up with flicks of blue and grey. The thick paint creates a tactile experience; you feel like you could reach out and touch the scene. It is like you are there with the horse, the rider, and the waves of the sea. The way the light catches the horse’s back is so satisfying, isn’t it? Liebermann reminds me of someone like Gustave Courbet, who got real close to the materiality of paint. Ultimately, it’s the ambiguity and openness to interpretation that makes art so endlessly fascinating.