Dancing couples 1921

This is Max Beckmann's sketch of dancing couples, now at the Städel Museum, and you can almost hear the music, right? I imagine Beckmann capturing the energy of a lively scene with quick, searching lines, finding the figures within a jumble of marks. It's like he's feeling his way through the crowd, trying to catch a glimpse of the rhythm, the movement, the sheer joy of being together. There’s something really human and vulnerable in his search for the right line. This reminds me of other artists like Picasso or Kirchner who also explored the human form with such expressive intensity. Ultimately, for me, this sketch is about seeing and feeling—it's a reminder that art is never finished, only abandoned, and it invites us to join in the dance, to find our own rhythm in the chaos of life.