Hermann Max Pechstein

In addition, he established contact with the “Fauves”, who – like the members of the “Brücke” – were seeking to move beyond Impressionism. In Berlin, Pechstein became a driving force behind the “Neue Sezession”. He and other members of the “Brücke” travelled to the Baltic Sea and to the Moritzburg lakes to spend holidays working together. In the second decade of the 20th century, Pechstein was already being exhibited by important gallerists, such as Herwarth Walden, of Berlin’s “Sturm” gallery, as well as Ludwig Schames and Wolfgang Gurlitt. In 1912 he broke with the “Brücke”. Pechstein nonetheless continued to enjoy great popularity and took part in the Cologne Sonderbund exhibition as well as the jubilee exhibition of the Museum Folkwang in Essen. In 1914 Pechstein and his wife Lotte journeyed to the Palau islands in the South Pacific. There he created numerous watercolours, drawings and carvings. After the war Pechstein lived in Berlin, but repeatedly spent time in Nida, on the Curonian Spit. In 1922 Pechstein received a professorship at the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin. Shortly thereafter, he had a falling out with his gallerist Wolfgang Gurlitt, which initially plunged the artist into financial insecurity. In 1933 Pechstein was labelled a “degenerate artist” by the Nazis. Four years later he was expelled from the Academy of Arts, and more than 300 of his works were confiscated from German museums. During the war, Pechstein was assigned to perform civilian service in Pomerania. His studio and also his apartment were largely destroyed in a fire. After the war, he began to teach again at Berlin’s College of Fine Arts. In 1946/47 he wrote his memoires, but they were not published until 1960. Pechstein is among the most important representatives of German Expressionism and received numerous awards and distinctions for his work.