The Perseverance of Pechstein

The artistic life of Max Pechstein was going well as 1933 took shape. The son of a craftsman who worked in a textile mill, he’d studied art at the Royal Art Academy in Dresden, where he met Erich Heckel and joined the art group Die Brücke. Later in Berlin, he’d helped found the Neue Sezession and gained recognition for his decorative and colorful paintings. By 1933, he’d been a professor at the Berlin Academy going on ten years.

Things were going well for artist Max Pechstein till the Stormtroopers arrived

That all changed when the Nazis came to power. Pechstein was soon dismissed from the Berlin Academy and all up, a total of 326 of his paintings were removed from German museums. Wisely, the artist made himself scarce at this time, going into virtual seclusion in rural Pomerania. Pechstein would survive the war, be reinstated at the Berlin Academy, and live out his life amid constant acclaim in West Berlin.

Pechsteins "Am Fluss" captures a scene from the artists long-term summer home

On Friday, May 6, Daniel Buck Auctions offers bidders the opportunity to add a Pechstein to their collections when they sell Lot 85 of their Catalog Auction, Paintings and Sculpture sale. An oil on canvas titled "Am Fluss" (Beside the River), the work dates to 1923 and depicts a scene from the tiny Baltic fishing town of Leba, where Pechstein spent nearly every summer from 1921 to 1945.

Lot 88, "Chicken Little," an oil on panel by Mexican-born artist Alfredo Rodriguez

Lot 85 may be the standout piece in the sale but is by no means the only point of interest. The catalog includes works by Norman Rockwell, Roy Lichtenstein, William Stubbs, Peter Max, Alfredo Rodriguez (above) and Maurice Bouval, as well as silverware, furniture, glassware, porcelain, Asian art and more.