MAX Herman PECHSTEIN German 1924 Framed Multi Media Painting PROCESSION

Max Herman Pechstein (1881 - 1955, Germany/France) multi media art consisting of watercolor, tempera, and gouache, titled Procession, dated 1924. Signed at lower right. The painting is in excellent condition and has been framed behind glass since acquired.

Frame measures 37" x 26 1/2". Painting measures 34 1/2" x 24 1/2". This painting was purchased by the father of our client, from the artist, in Berlin in 1945/46. He was in the army after the war and met Pechstein and bought 4 of his paintings directly. The painting has descended in the family. 

Bio as found:

Originally from Zwickau, Hermann Max Pechstein was one of the main representatives of German Expressionism and temporary member of the ‘Brücke’ (bridge). He mainly created figural motifs, some with exotic influence, still lives and landscapes. His landscapes are often influenced by the landscape of Pomerania where Pechstein had a lasting inspiring effect on the Artists' Colony Nidden in the years from 1909 to 1939. Due to an encounter with Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Erich Heckel, he joined the association of artists ‘Brücke’ in 1906 as the only academic. 

In 1908, Pechstein moved to Berlin. In the same year, he became a member of the ‘Berlin Secession’; in 1910, he was a co-founder and president of the ‘New Secession’. He was excluded from the 'Bridge' association in 1911, due to his simultaneous participation in the ‘Berlin Secession’.

After traveling to the South Pacific, Pechstein became a member and professor of the Prussian Academy of Arts in 1923. During the Third Reich, his works were classified as ‘degenerate’ and prohibited at exhibitions. After the Second World War, Pechstein became a professor at the Berlin University of the Arts. In 1952, he was awarded the Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Shortly before his death in 1955, Pechstein still took part at the documenta I in Kassel. 

Today, Pechstein's works can be found in many museums, including the MOMA in New York, the Brücke Museum in Berlin, the State Museums of Berlin, the Albertina in Vienna and the Art Institute of Chicago. (cbo)  

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