Beergarden Near The Wannsee 

Max Liebermann’s “Beergarden Near The Wannsee” is rendered in oil paint, that most versatile of materials. In this painting, the medium is handled with bravura. Look at the way he loaded up his brush, especially in the foliage of the trees, and in the reflections on the water. You can almost feel the bristle of the brush and the drag of the pigment. The image is built up of discrete dabs of colour: green, brown, white, and blue predominate. It’s a scene of leisure, of course. But consider the amount of labor that went into its making: Liebermann’s own, certainly, but also that of the people who processed the linseed oil, ground the pigments, wove the canvas, and stretched it over a wooden frame. Even the making of beer in the foreground involved so many working hands. This painting reminds us that all art is enmeshed in a web of production, however idyllic the subject matter.