Max Pechstein

Max Pechstein
Pechstein in 1946
Born	(1881-12-31)31 December 1881 Zwickau,German Empire
Died	29 August 1955(1955-08-29)(aged 73) West Berlin,West Germany
Education	School of Applied Arts, Dresden; Royal Art Academy, Dresden
Known for	Painting, printmaking
Style	Expressionism
Movement	Die Brücke

Max Pechstein in his house inBerlin-Zehlendorf,1915

Max Pechstein, 1911,Under the Trees (Akte im Freien),oil on canvas, 73.6 × 99 cm (29 × 39 in),Detroit Institute of Arts

Grave of Max Pechstein in the Evangelischer Friedhof Schmargendorf in Berlin

Hermann Max Pechstein(31 December 1881 – 29 June 1955) was aGermanexpressionistpainterandprintmakerand a member of theDie Brückegroup. He fought on theWestern FrontduringWorld War Iand his art was classified asDegenerate Artby theNazis.More than 300 paintings were removed from German Museums during theNazi era.

Life and career

Pechstein was born inZwickau,the son of a craftsman who worked in a textile mill. The family of eight lived on the father's salary.An early contact with the art ofVincent van Goghstimulated Pechstein's development towardexpressionism.He first worked as a decorator in his home town before enrolling at the School of Applied Arts and then at the Royal Art Academy inDresden,where he met the painter Otto Gussman and the architectWilhelm Kreis.It was here, starting in 1902, that he became a pupil of Gussmann; a relationship that lasted until 1906when Pechstein metErich Heckeland was invited to join the art groupDie Brücke.He was the only member to have received formal art training. He was an active member of the Brücke until 1910 and often worked alongside Brücke painters creating a homogeneous style of this period. In 1905 he was in Dresden where the museum of ethnology showed wood carvings from the South Seas.As a result he developed his first woodcut.

In 1907 Pechstein traveled to Italy to receive an award, and upon his return in 1908 spent time in Paris where he met the Fauvist painterKees van Dongenwhom he persuaded to join Die Brücke. Later that year Pechstein moved toBerlin(a move that fellow painters were to make in the following three years). After being categorically rejected from exhibiting in theBerlin Secessionin 1910, he helped to found and became chairman of theNew Secessionand gained recognition for his decorative and colorful prints that were inspired by the art of Van Gogh,Matisse,and theFauves.

In 1912, after years of rising tensions, Pechstein was expelled from the Brücke after exhibiting some of his work in the aforementioned Berlin Secession all by himself and without paintings of other members of the Brücke.This expulsion was a relatively happy one as Pechstein had been receiving rewards and recognition far beyond his peers owing to his conservative style that appealed to a wider audience. This recognition only distanced him from the group and bred animosity among the members. His paintings eventually became moreprimitivist,incorporating thick black lines and angular figures. Looking for inspiration, he traveled toPalauin thePacific Ocean.Upon the outbreak ofWorld War I,Pechstein was interned in Japan and returned to Germany viaShanghai,Manila,andNew York.He was sent to fight on theWestern Front (World War I)in 1916.Despite his notably conservative stance and style, after theGerman Revolution of 1918–19,Pechstein joined two radical socialist groups: theArbeitsrat für Kunstand theNovember Group (German).Beginning in 1922, Pechstein became a professor at theBerlin Academy.

Beginning in 1933, Pechstein was vilified by the Nazis because of his art. He was banned from painting or exhibiting his art and later that year was fired from his teaching position. A total of 326 of his paintings were removed from German museums. Sixteen of his works were displayed in theEntartete Kunst(Degenerate Art) exhibition of 1937. During this time, Pechstein went into seclusion in ruralPomerania.He was reinstated in 1945, and subsequently won numerous titles and awards for his work.

Many of Pechstein's collectors wereJewswhose collections were seized by the Nazis or lost owing to Nazi persecution. In May 2013 theBavarian State Paintings Collectionsagreed to restitute Pechstein'sWhite House,(1910) and hisMeadow Valley(1911) to the heirs ofCurt Glaser.In July 2021, France decided to restitute to the heirs ofHugo Simonthe Pechstein entitledNus dans un paysage.In 2023, Christie's brokered a settlement with the heirs ofRobert Graetz,a Jewish textile industrialist and art collector who was deported and murdered by the Nazis, concerningStill Life With a Cup,which Graetz's daughter sold as a refugee in South Africa.

He was a prolific printmaker, producing 421lithographs,315woodcutsandlinocuts,and 165intaglioprints, mostlyetchings.

Personal life

He was married to Charlotte Karpolat from 1911 until 1923 and later was married to Marta Möller.He died inWest Berlinand is buried in theEvangelischerFriedhof Alt-Schmargendorf in Berlin.

Works

• 
  Pechstein,Woman's Head (Fraukopf),c. 1911,M.T. Abraham Foundation

Art market

At a 1999Sotheby'sauction,The Yellow Mask I(1910), the portrait of a woman wearing a yellow mask, was sold for $1.37 million.In 2008,Zirkus mit Dromedaren(c. 1920) was auctioned for £1.9 million in London.

External links

• Works by or about Max PechsteinatInternet Archive
• Max Pechstein at Artcyclopedia
• Official Max Pechstein Webpage/Catalogue raisonne of Pechstein's oil paintings
• Hermann Max Pechstein (1881 - 1955)Biography at Galerie Ludorff, Düsseldorf, Germany