Max Pechstein was the only academically trained painter in the artist group 'Die Brücke'. Most of his early works are figure paintings, still lifes and landscapes. The latter were influenced by his summer stays in Farther Pomerania and the Curonian Spit. In 1914, Pechstein travelled to the Palau Islands in the South Pacific and experienced a world that was free of the restraints of European conventions. He captured this experience in numerous figure paintings with exotic motifs. Back in Germany, the interwar period became a time of social and economic success for Pechstein. He became a member of the Berlin Academy of Arts and was politically active. In 1933, Pechstein's art was branded as 'degenerate'. After that, he lived a secluded life in the countryside of Pomerania. Only after the war was he rehabilitated, receiving several titles and awards for his works.
