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Max
Pehshtein

Germany • 1881−1955
Max Pechstein (German Max Pechstein, December 31, 1881, Zwickau - June 29, 1955, Berlin) - German artist and graphic artist, was a member of the Most expressionist art group, headed the New Secession artistic association after the conflict and split in the Berlin Secession.
Pechstein was the most sought-after and well-known expressionist artist in Germany and beyond. Many people believed that he was the leader of the Most group, his solo exhibitions aroused great interest and recognition, and he often received private orders. Although in reality Pechstein got into the group at the invitation of Erich Heckel, one of the four founders. Pechstein’s growing popularity was primarily due to the fact that the sharpness of colors and forms inherent in expressionism in his works was softened and presented to the viewer in a lightweight format. Fascinated by the art of the French Fauves, Pechstein was exposed to pure joyful paints — and rarely let anxiety and anxiety enter the works. In the end, this led to the exclusion of the artist from the group.
Having dispersed with the bridgemen, Pechstein easily finds a place in the ranks of the Berlin Secession, and having once rejected the jury of the Secession, confidently creates his own association with several colleagues, closely communicates with members of the Blue Rider group, in search of a natural life far from civilization leaves for the islands Palau in the Pacific.
The time between the two world wars is the most productive for Pechstein. He illustrates books, creates stained glass windows, masterfully performs woodcuts, teaches at the Prussian Academy of Art. When the Nazis came to power, he would have to give up everything: he was dismissed and forbidden to write, and by the end of the war he was called to forced labor. After the overthrow of the Nazi regime, the artist will live another 10 years, will be restored in all positions and statuses, will receive many awards and recognition, but he will never be able to return to his intense work. In the last years of his life he painted only small watercolors.

Features of the artist Max Pechstein: The members of the artistic association “Most” spent the whole summer on the lakes and the Baltic Sea coast, bathed naked together with models and wives, looking for salvation from the destructive power of civilization in nature and the natural way of life. Max Pechstein was one of the most subtle and lyrical adherents of this idea. He writes bathers and wild thickets along the beaches, fishing villages and mountain boulders as if he had already found this salvation. In the engravings created after traveling to the Pacific Islands, he achieved the highest craftsmanship, combining the classical German xylography technique with exotic forms inherent in the naive island art.

Famous works of Max Pechstein: "Naked under a tree", "Three women in the background of the landscape", "Man and woman", "Baby".
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