Max Pechstein
Blumenstillleben, 1918

Alfred Flechtheim and Max Pechstein

The painter and graphic artist Max Pechstein is one of the most important representatives of German Expressionism. From 1906–1912 he was a member of the Brücke group of artists. Apart from paintings, drawings, watercolours and prints, his works also include commissions for frescos, mosaics and stained-glass windows. Pechstein primarily created pictures of figures, still lifes and landscapes. Following a stay in Paris in 1907/08, the influence of the ‘Fauves’ can be seen. His painting is characterised by large, contoured shapes and brilliant colours that emphasise the decorative element in his work much more than in the case of other Brücke artists. From 1920 onwards, this expressiveness lessened in favour of a more reserved use of colour amd more balanced composition. He was elected a member of the Akademie der Künste in 1923 but was forced to leave in 1937 after the National Socialists seized power. Pechstein was prohibited from exhibiting and 48 of his works in museum collections were confiscated in 1939 and labelled ‘degenerate’. His flat in Berlin and his studio were destroyed in a fire in 1945 along with a large number of his works.

Max Pechstein was represented by the art dealer Wolfgang Gurlitt who organised all the sales of works by the artist from 1913–22 and who held the sole rights. Pechstein was not one of the artists that Flechtheim particularly favoured, but his works were included in a total of seven group exhibitions in Flechtheim’s Düsseldorf gallery and later in Berlin. The two of them however enjoyed a friendly relationship. Pechstein regularly contributed graphic works tp Flechtheim’s magazine ‘Der Querschnitt’ from 1921 onwards. On Flechtheim’s 50^th birthday, Pechstein was among those to congratulate him and was involved in the compilation of a private issue of the magazine especially for the gallery owner. Photographs exist of the two at Pechstein’s 50^th birthday three years later. Flechtheim himself had a work by Pechstein in his own private collection since 1912.