Max Pechstein

Born in Zwickau in 1881, Hermann Max Pechstein is considered one of the most important painters and graphic artists of the Classical period Modern art. With his idiosyncratic style within the artists' association "Brücke", he created expressive, colorful works whose formal language remained less distinctive in comparison to the other members. Instead, the trained decorative painter emphasizes the decorative elements, creating impressive figure paintings, still lifes and landscapes.

In 1906, Pechstein met Erich Heckel and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner in Dresden and joined the "Brücke" until 1912. After completing his art studies in Dresden in 1907, Pechstein traveled through Italy and France for several months, where he was significantly influenced by Fauvism and henceforth transferred its intense colors into his work. In 1908, he moved to Berlin and founded the "Neue Secession" with other rejected artists such as Heckel and Kirchner after his works were rejected by the Berlin Secession. In the following years, Pechstein spent the summer months in Nidden and at the Moritzburg lakes. He mainly painted nude and landscapes. Already fascinated by the Pacific culture and aesthetics of Palau in his "Brücke" days, Pechstein undertook a trip to the South Sea island in 1914 that was planned to last several months, but which he had to leave early due to the outbreak of the First World War. After his military service, he increasingly turned away from expressive painting. When the National Socialists seized power in Germany, Pechstein's works were defamed as "degenerate" and he was banned from exhibiting from 1933. In 1945, Pechstein accepted a professorship at the Berlin Art Academy and took part in the first edition of the documenta in Kassel in 1955. Pechstein died in Berlin in the same year.