by Artist (18)
Two Nudes
192020th Century
20 in. x 14 7/8 in. (50.8 cm x 37.78 cm)
Max Pechstein, German, (1881–1955)
Object Type:
Works on Paper
Creation Place:
Europe, Germany
Medium and Support:
Color woodcut print on paper
Credit Line:
Museum Purchase, Susan L. Mills Fund
Accession Number:
1959.10
Max Pechstein was a leading member of the German Expressionist group, Die Brücke (The Bridge) and is known for his nudes and landscape paintings. Die Brücke was founded in 1905 by a group of German artists including Erich Heckel and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, whose work is also on view in this exhibition. Their manifesto called for producing work that broke with traditional rules of creating art, instead adopting the late nineteenth century influences of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. Many of the prints by this group, including landscapes, portraitures, human figures, were simplified but impactful, created with bold outlines and vivid hues, as seen in this piece.
Pechstein traveled to Palau, Western Pacific, in 1914, where he started to work in a Primitivist style, which was influenced by a Western understanding of Indigenous cultures and was of major interest among German Expressionists. In Two Nudes, the shape of the body is boldly stylized and the contrast of bold orange and blue creates an exoticized impression. The texture of the wood shown in the print also enhances the primeval quality of this piece.
--Hisaka Marubayashi, December 2017
Pechstein traveled to Palau, Western Pacific, in 1914, where he started to work in a Primitivist style, which was influenced by a Western understanding of Indigenous cultures and was of major interest among German Expressionists. In Two Nudes, the shape of the body is boldly stylized and the contrast of bold orange and blue creates an exoticized impression. The texture of the wood shown in the print also enhances the primeval quality of this piece.
--Hisaka Marubayashi, December 2017
Exhibition List
This object was included in the following exhibitions:
- German Expressionist Prints and Drawings Mills College , 3/17/1981 - 4/5/1981
- Selections and New Acquisitions from the Mills College Collection Mills College Art Gallery , 9/4/1984 - 10/14/1984
- A Century of Collecting: Modern Prints and Drawings from the Mills College Art Gallery , 4/19/1994 - 6/10/1994
- Anxious States: Expressionism from Gauguin to Oliveira Mills College Art Museum , 12/6/2017 - 5/27/2018
Dimensions
- Image Dimensions: 15 3/4 in. x 12 1/2 in. (40.01 cm x 31.75 cm)
- Mat Dimensions: 24 in. x 20 in. (60.96 cm x 50.8 cm)
- Sheet Dimensions: 20 x 14 7/8 in. (50.8 x 37.78 cm)
Bibliography List
This object has the following bibliographic references:
- Stephanie Hanor, ed. Anxious States: Expressionism from Gauguin to Oliveira . Anxious States: Expressionism from Gauguin to Oliveira Mills College Art Museum. Oakland, CA, 2017
Your current search criteria is: Bibliography is "Anxious States: Expressionism from Gauguin to Oliveira ".