Hermann Max Pechstein was a German expressionist painter and printmaker and a member of the Die Brücke group. He fought on the Western Front during World War I and his art was classified as Degenerate Art by the Nazis. More than 300 paintings were removed from German Museums during the Nazi era.
Pechstein in 1946
Max Pechstein in his house in Berlin-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
Die Brücke, also known as Künstlergruppe Brücke or KG Brücke, was a group of German expressionist artists formed in Dresden in 1905. The founding members were Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. Later members were Emil Nolde, Max Pechstein, and Otto Mueller. The seminal group had a major impact on the evolution of modern art in the 20th century and the creation of expressionism. The group came to an end around 1913. The Brücke Museum in Berlin was named after the group.
Fritz Bleyl poster for the first Brücke show in 1906
Brücke manifesto 1906
Painting of the group members by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner 1926/7, Museum Ludwig, Cologne