Pechstein, Max (1881–1955)

German painter and graphic artist. He became a member of the expressionist die Brücke group 1906, his work influenced by Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse, and then by the art of nonindustrial cultures. His typical use of fluid forms and strong colours can be seen in Three Nudes in a Landscape 1911 (Pompidou Centre, Paris).

In 1914 his interest in unschooled, non-Western art led him to travel to the South Pacific. He taught at the Berlin Academy 1923–33, being dismissed by the Nazis, who later condemned his work as Degenerate Art.