Max Pechstein was one of the artists who formed Die Bruche, The Bridge: a group of people who sought to inspire the masses to change their lives and one of the only members of the group to have had formal artistic training. However he was kicked when, in 1912, he held an exhibit of his work, breaking one of the rules that the group would only show their work together.

Then in 1916 he enlisted and fought in the trenches of WWI, leading to his creation of a series of lithographs called ‘The Horror of War’.

1918 saw him co-found the Novembergruppe. Taking its name from the November Revolution which had culminated in the corrupt monarchy being overthrown, the Novembergruppe was a group of expressionists who shared socialist values. They campaigned for greater freedom and control of the arts.

However, in 1933, when the Nazis came to power they vilified him, removing 326 of his paintings from museums and removing him from his post as a professor at the Berlin Academy. The infamous Entartete Kunst, Degenerate Art exhibition where the Nazis mocked anti-war art and turned its power to speak to the people into the power to silence them featured 16 of his works. During this time he sought refuge in Pomerania.

He was reinstated by the Berlin Academy in 1945 and subsequently won many titles and awards for his work. He died in west Berlin in 1955.

Some very famous works by Max Pechstein:

Kneeling Man at the Tideway of Dangast

Circus

Self Portrait With Death

House on the Beach

Discover more of these artists and what they painted here:

http://www.squidoo.com/moonshine-art

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