Bildnis Lilli von Schnitzler-Mallinckrodt 1931

Editor: This is Max Beckmann’s 1931 pencil drawing, *Bildnis Lilli von Schnitzler-Mallinckrodt*, currently at the Städel Museum. It's... interesting. There's a harshness to it, almost a caricature, despite its elegance. What jumps out at you? Curator: It sings to me of Weimar Berlin, darling! A portrait, yes, but with Beckmann's signature bite. See how he exaggerates the features? It's not about capturing perfect beauty, but about revealing a certain...inner tension, perhaps? A pearl necklace can't hide everything, can it? Editor: Definitely. I can see what you mean about inner tension. The way he's used line is so angular. Curator: Exactly! That line is everything. Nervous, searching. Like the city itself at that time. Do you think that Beckmann saw something specific in Lilli, or that he was using her as a vehicle to reflect his views? Maybe she had an interesting life or was just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Editor: Possibly both. There's something very specific about her, but maybe also universal about the anxieties of the era. Curator: Precisely. She's a symbol as much as a person. Isn’t it remarkable how much he conveys with so few strokes of the pencil? Almost brutal honesty there! I love the way expressionist artists could almost psychically diagnose what was boiling beneath the surface. Editor: Yeah, it is intense. So, it’s like, the drawing is of this specific woman, but really it tells us more about Beckmann and the period he lived in? Curator: That is absolutely how I feel about the piece and how Beckmann captures the subject matter that I found so intriguing. Lilli, you gave your likeness for a moment in time and told so many secrets we never would have known without you. Editor: That really brings it together. Thanks for sharing all this insight. It definitely has given me a deeper perspective of the work!