Max Pechstein

The painter, sculptor and graphic artist Max Pechstein belonged to the artist group “Die Brücke”. He is one of the most prominent artists of German Expressionism.

From 1900 Max Pechstein studied at the Dresden School of Applied Arts and became a master student of Otto Gussmann at the Dresden Art Academy. He got to know the architects Wilhelm Kreis and Erich Heckel through an arts and crafts exhibition. In 1906 he was the only member with an academic education in painting to join the artist group “Die Brücke”. In 1907 he received the Saxon State Prize and traveled to Italy and Paris. In 1908 he finally settled in Berlin, became a member of the “Berlin Secession” and co-founder of the “New Secession”, of which he was temporarily president. After initially participating, his Brücke colleagues left the “Neue Secession” to only exhibit as a group. Pechstein was excluded from the group in 1912 because he continued to exhibit at the “New Secession”. After the First World War, Pechstein was appointed a member of the Prussian Academy of the Arts and a professor at the same time. During National Socialism he was relieved of his teaching post and his works were shown at the “Degenerate Art” exhibition. After the Second World War he was able to leave the Soviet occupation zone for Berlin and in 1945 became a professor at the University of the Arts in Berlin.