Abtransport der Sphinxe 1946

Max Beckmann made this drawing with pen and ink: it shows sphinxes being carted away, as if they were furniture or props from a play. I imagine Beckmann must have been thinking about the chaos and absurdity of the world when he made this piece. It reminds me of Picasso's cubist period, when he was smashing up figures and objects and reassembling them in new and unexpected ways. The scratchy lines give the drawing a raw, unfinished quality, as if it were made in a fit of manic energy, an urgency to express himself, grabbing a pen and letting the ink flow, not worrying about the details. There's a sense of movement, a feeling that everything is in flux and nothing is stable. Maybe the artist is telling us that the only constant in life is change, and we have to learn to roll with the punches, like those sphinxes on that rickety cart.