Max Pechstein

(German, 1881–1955)

Max Pechstein was a German Expressionist painter and printmaker known for his boldly colored nudes and landscapes. “Art is not a pastime, it is a duty with respect to the people, a public affair,” the artist once stated. Born Hermann Max Pechstein on December 31, 1881 in Zwickau, Germany, he studied art in Dresden where he met the painter Erich Heckel. In 1906, Heckel invited him to join the collective Die Brücke which had been formed a year earlier by Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. Primarily working in the Impressionist tradition, after joining the group Pechstein began painting in a vibrant Fauvist palette. In a similar vein to Paul Gauguin, Pechstein became interested in primitive art from other cultures as an influence after visiting the Dresden Ethnographical Museum. This interest in the imagery and culture of exotic locales is evinced in his vibrant 1910 painting, Indian and Woman. In 1914, the artist traveled to the Palau Islands in the South Pacific so he could experience the culture first-hand. Pechstein’s art was deemed “degenerate” by the Nazi regime in 1933 and he was forced to resign his teaching position at the Berlin Academy, though it was reinstated after the war. He died on June 29, 1955 at the age of 73. Today, the artist’s works are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Albertina in Vienna, and the Von der Heydt Museum in Wuppertal, Germany, among others.

Related Categories

19th-Century European and British Art, Drawings and Works on Paper, Impressionist and Modern Art

Related Artists

Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Otto Mueller, Emil Nolde, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff

Most Expensive Artwork Sold at Auction

Weib mit Inder auf Teppich (+ Früchte II, verso), 1910
Sold price: 4,658,011 USD

Max Pechstein Artworks

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

Max Pechstein (5,645 results)
AN DER OSTSEE (BY THE BALTIC SEA), 1934

Max Pechstein

AN DER OSTSEE (BY THE BALTIC SEA), 1934

Sale Date: June 20, 2019

Auction Closed

STEILKÜSTE UND SONNENSPIEGELUNG (STEEP COAST , 1921

Max Pechstein

STEILKÜSTE UND SONNENSPIEGELUNG (STEEP COAST , 1921

Sale Date: June 20, 2019

Auction Closed

Blatt 30 aus der FolgeReisebilder..., 1919

Max Pechstein

Blatt 30 aus der FolgeReisebilder..., 1919

Sale Date: October 19, 2019

Auction Closed

Am Wasser IV, 1911

Max Pechstein

Am Wasser IV, 1911

Sale Date: October 26, 2019

Auction Closed

Küstenlandschaft, 1924

Max Pechstein

Küstenlandschaft, 1924

Sale Date: October 26, 2019

Auction Closed

IM WASSER I (ZU: HEINRICH LAUTENSACK,..., 1917

Max Pechstein

IM WASSER I (ZU: HEINRICH LAUTENSACK,..., 1917

Sale Date: September 16, 2019

Auction Closed

POMMERSCHE FISCHER, 1923

Max Pechstein

POMMERSCHE FISCHER, 1923

Sale Date: September 16, 2019

Auction Closed

ÜBERLEGENDE, 1923

Max Pechstein

ÜBERLEGENDE, 1923

Sale Date: September 16, 2019

Auction Closed

Auf den Leger, 1947

Max Pechstein

Auf den Leger, 1947

Sale Date: September 22, 2019

Auction Closed

Frauenkopf, 1912

Max Pechstein

Frauenkopf, 1912

Sale Date: September 22, 2019

Auction Closed

Portrait of August Bebel, 1916

Max Pechstein

Portrait of August Bebel, 1916

Sale Date: September 22, 2019

Auction Closed

In den Wellen Badende, 1917

Max Pechstein

In den Wellen Badende, 1917

Sale Date: September 22, 2019

Auction Closed

Wartende, 1946

Max Pechstein

Wartende, 1946

Sale Date: September 22, 2019

Auction Closed

Stehender Akt am Wasser, 1917

Max Pechstein

Stehender Akt am Wasser, 1917

Sale Date: September 21, 2019

Auction Closed

Max Pechstein

"Mutter und Sohn" or "Mutter mit Kind", 1945

Sale Date: September 21, 2019

Auction Closed

Mastrichten., 1917

Max Pechstein

Mastrichten., 1917

Sale Date: September 19, 2019

Auction Closed

Am Meer III., 1912

Max Pechstein

Am Meer III., 1912

Sale Date: September 19, 2019

Auction Closed

Mann und Weib (Weib und Mann), 1909

Max Pechstein

Mann und Weib (Weib und Mann), 1909

Sale Date: September 18, 2019

Auction Closed

Max Pechstein

"Anlandung", 1919

Sale Date: June 1, 2019

Auction Closed

Max Pechstein

"Fischer", 1919

Sale Date: June 1, 2019

Auction Closed

IN DER SÜDSEE, 1919

Max Pechstein

IN DER SÜDSEE, 1919

Sale Date: June 28, 2019

Auction Closed

Reclining Figure

Max Pechstein

Reclining Figure

Sale Date: July 6, 2019

Auction Closed

Blatt aus Reisebilder Italien-Südsee (+ 2..., 1919

Max Pechstein

Blatt aus Reisebilder Italien-Südsee (+ 2..., 1919

Sale Date: June 21, 2019

Auction Closed

Badende, 1918

Max Pechstein

Badende, 1918

Sale Date: June 15, 2019

Auction Closed

English (US)

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