MAX PECHSTEIN (1881-1955)

The founding of the Künstlergruppe Brücke and the birth of Expressionism also marked the beginning of a ‘print revival’ in Germany. After the predominantly reproductive or illustrative print production of the 19th century, prints and in particular woodcuts began to be seen as a powerful and important medium of artistic expression. In order to disseminate and promote this revived print production, artists and artists’ collectives began to issue portfolios, and gallerists and critics, such as Herwarth Walden (1879-1941) and Paul Westheim (1886-1963), published magazines and journals which included original prints.

While some were very short-lived, Paul Westheim’s publication Die Schaffenden, ran from 1918-32 with four issues per year. Each issue consisted of a portfolio containing ten original prints, mostly but not exclusively by German artists, including some of the leading figures of the German avant-garde, such as the Brücke-artists Heckel, Pechstein and Schmidt-Rottluff, and satirists such as George Grosz, as well as lesser-known artists of the time. No other periodical came to showcase and represent the artistic life of the inter-war years to a similar degree.

The present collection of prints from Die Schaffenden includes important woodcuts, etchings and lithographs from the first three years, when it was published in Weimar, by some of the defining artists of the period, all in exceptionally good condition.