Pechstein collection from Zwickau museum goes on tour

Over 100 works by the expressionist Max Pechstein (1881-1955) are going on a world tour from Zwickau: Because the Max Pechstein Museum in the painter's birthplace is closing for years, paintings, photographs and diaries from the collection will be on display in other museums. This is a unique opportunity to make works from the artist's hometown available to an international audience, said Petra Lewey, Director of the Zwickau Art Collections, at a presentation of the tour plans on Friday. Pechstein's grandchildren Julia and Martin were also present.

The Pechstein family was involved

The background to this is the closure of the Zwickau museum for construction work until 2028, for which 8.5 million euros have been budgeted. The museum, the estate foundation and the Pechstein family have contributed to the current idea through loans and their own knowledge, added Maximilian Letze, Director of the Tübingen Institute for Cultural Exchange, who developed the picture tour. "As a result, an exhibition concept has been developed that is likely to impress internationally." Over 100 paintings, watercolors and prints will be complemented by diary entries, photographs and working sketches.

Start in Rotterdam

Under the name "Max Pechstein. Visions of a Better World", the tour starts next March - at the Kunsthal in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. "Many museums in Germany, Austria and Switzerland have also expressed interest, as have well-known museums in the USA and Asia. We have already been flooded with inquiries," says Letze.

Some of the artist's works will remain in the city of his birth, however, and will be on display again in the art collections from next year, added Annika Weise, curator of the Max Pechstein Museum. "The people of Zwickau don't have to do without their Pechstein completely."

Artist group "Brücke" and South Sea travels

Pechstein is one of the best-known representatives of German Expressionism and thus of so-called Classic Modernism. Together with Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and Erich Heckel, he founded the "Brücke" group of artists, settled in Berlin and undertook many trips, for example to the South Seas.

The current picture tour shows Pechstein's artistic development over seven decades and also focuses on his key works, from the early paintings of the Brücke era to South Sea motifs, according to the Zwickau art collections.