On this day 1955: Death of Max Pechstein, a German expressionist painter and printmaker.

 On this day 1955: Death of Max Pechstein, a German expressionist painter and printmaker. and a member of the Die Brücke group. Here he is pictured in his Berlin home in Zelendor.  

He first worked as a decorator before enrolling at the School of Applied Arts and then at the Royal Art Academy in Dresden, where he met the painter Otto Gussman and the architect Wilhelm Kreis. 

 It was here, starting in 1902, that he became a pupil of Gussmann; a relationship that would last until 1906 when Pechstein met Erich Heckel and was invited to join the art group Die Brücke.

 In 1907, Pechstein traveled to Italy to receive an award and upon his return in 1908 spent time in Paris where he met Fauvist painter Kees van Dongen whom he persuaded to join Die Brücke. 

Later that year Pechstein moved to Berlin. After being rejected from exhibiting in the Berlin Secession in 1910, he helped to found and become chairman of the New Secession, gaining recognition for his colorful prints.

In 1912, Pechstein was expelled from the group after exhibiting some of his work in the  Berlin Secession. 

This expulsion was a happy one as he had been receiving rewards and recognition far beyond his peers due to his conservative style that appealed to a wider audience.

 This recognition only distanced him from the group and bred animosity among the members. His paintings eventually became more primitivist, incorporating thick black lines and angular figures.

 Upon the breakout of WWI, Pechstein became interned in Japan and was then sent to Germany to fight on the Western Front in 1916. In 1922, Pechstein became a professor at the Berlin Academy.

In 1933, Pechstein was vilified by the Nazis because of his art. 

He was banned from painting or exhibiting his art and later that year was fired from his teaching position. 

A total of 326 of his paintings were removed from German museums. Sixteen of his works were displayed in the Degenerate Art exhibition of 1937.

 He went into seclusion in rural Pomerania and was reinstated in 1945, winning numerous titles and awards for his work.