flüchtige Skizze dreier Tanzender (Three Dancers) [p. 11] 

Max Beckmann sketched these three dancers with pencil, freezing a moment of rhythmic ecstasy. Throughout the ages, the motif of dancing figures has appeared in art, echoing ancient Dionysian rituals, where dance induced trance and catharsis. Here, the dancers’ movements are captured in a flurry of lines, barely contained on the page. Their gestures, though fleetingly sketched, resonate with the bacchantes of classical antiquity, wild women celebrating in frenzied dance. Think of the maenads depicted on Greek vases, their bodies contorted in ecstatic revelry. Dance, in its many forms, serves as a powerful symbol. It embodies freedom, uninhibited expression, and the release of primal energies. Beckmann's sketch, though minimal, taps into this deep well of collective memory, reminding us of the enduring human need to express joy and abandon through movement. The image evokes the cyclical nature of human expression, resurfacing in different forms across time.