Kinderen spelen op straat 1918 - 1919

Max Beckmann made this etching, Kinderen Spelen op Straat, with ink on paper. It’s all about the line work. Look at how frenetic and scratchy it is! It’s like Beckmann attacked the plate, and it totally conveys the energy of children playing. The texture feels immediate, almost like a quick sketch, but it’s also incredibly deliberate. Each line seems to vibrate with its own intensity. There’s this one figure, right in the middle, holding what looks like a shield and a weapon, and the lines around them are so chaotic that you can almost feel the force of the action. It's raw and it's honest. Beckmann's expressionist approach reminds me of some of the German Expressionist woodcuts, like Kirchner, where the rough, angular lines become a way of showing inner turmoil. It’s this whole conversation between artists, where they’re responding to each other and pushing the boundaries of how we see and feel. It’s not about capturing reality, but about capturing something truer.