Max Pechstein

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Jump to: navigation, search

Max Hermann Pechstein (December 31, 1881 - June 29, 1955), was a German expressionist painter and graphic artist, born in Zwickau.

Between 1903 and 1906 he studied at the academy with Professor Otto Gußmann. Early contact with the art of Vincent Van Gogh stimulated his development toward expressionism. After studying art in Dresden, Pechstein met Erich Heckel and joined the art group Die Brücke in 1906. He was the only member to have formal art training. Later in Berlin, he helped to found the Neue Sezession and gained recognition for his decorative and colorful paintings that were lent from the ideas of Van Gogh, Matisse, and the Fauves. His paintings eventually became more primitive, incorporating thick black lines and angular figures.

In 1914 Pechstein traveled to the Palau-Islands in the South Pacific. He experienced life in a world which he romantically idealized as an earthly paradise without the restraints of European conventions.

From 1933 on Pechstein was defamed by the Nazis for his artistic work. Three hundred twenty six of his pictures in German museums were confiscated. In the exhibition Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art) of 1937 six of his paintings, four of his watercolors and six of his graphic works were shown. He spent this time in seclusion in rural Pomerania.

Pechstein was a professor at the Berlin Academy for ten years before his dismissal by the Nazis in 1933, only to be reinstated in 1945, winning numerous titles and awards for his work.

External links

Max Pechstein at Artcyclopedia

Personal tools
In other languages