Max Pechstein

Painter and print-maker, born in Zwickau, E Germany. He studied in Dresden, where he joined the avant-garde Die Brücke group in 1906. From 1908 he helped found the rival Neue Sezession in Berlin, and developed a colourful style indebted to Matisse and to the Fauvists. He taught at the Berlin Academy from 1923 until he was dismissed by the Nazis in 1933. He was reinstated in 1945.

Max Hermann Pechstein (December 31, 1881 - June 29, 1955), was a German expressionist painter and graphic artist, born in Zwickau.

Early contact with the art of Vincent Van Gogh stimulated his development toward expressionism. After studying art in Dresden, Pechstein met Erich Heckel and joined the art group Die Brücke in 1906. Later in Berlin, he helped to found the Neue Sezession and gained recognition for his decorative and colorful paintings that were lent from the ideas of Van Gogh, Matisse, and the Fauves.

Beginning in 1933, Pechstein was attacked by the Nazis because of his art.

Pechstein was a professor at the Berlin Academy for ten years before his dismissal by the Nazis in 1933.