Among the artists of Expressionism Max Beckmann created one of the most acknowledged graphic oeuvres. In the 1920s Beckmann was able to take his edgy forms and expressive gestures, which had become his trademarks, to a new peak of expression through the emphasis of the graphic's linear medium. Today we admire the clear and determined line of his characters. Beckmann's preferred theme - similar to that of George Grosz - was the depiction of a society that had come apart at its seams, a society distressed by the troubles of the post-war era, which sought to find bliss by indulging into nightlife excesses. Caught in their own world, the two sad cocottes try to comfort the audience with their performance.