Hermann Max Pechstein's painting “Kiefernwald nach dem Regen” (Pine Forest After the Rain) was created in 1919, at the height of an enormously productive creative phase that followed the traumatic events of World War I. Upon his return from the war, Pechstein spent the summer of 1919 in Nida on the Curonian Spit, the place he had discovered as his painter’s paradise as early as 1909. Pechstein later recalled: “In the spring of 1919, I made my way up to Nida, my heart heavy with anxiety over whether I would still find the same conditions up on the Curonian Spit that were suitable for a painter. I was also anxious about reuniting with the landscape and the people whom I had encountered in 1909 as a fertile new territory for me. Certainly, much had changed, but it was still a comfort to be joyfully welcomed by my old fishermen friends.” (quoted from: Max Pechstein. Erinnerungen. Stuttgart 1993, pp. 106f.). Despite this initial uncertainty, the beloved place quickly captivated him once more, and an abundance of new paintings emerged. Working as if in a trance, Pechstein devoted himself tirelessly to his paintings. “Everything is drowning in color for me; my brain is filled only with images, and the idea of what to paint chases me from one place to another (…).” (quoted from: Letter to P. Fechter, Nida, Oct. 2, 1919; copy in the Krüger Archive, Berlin (original in the Getty Archive, Los Angeles).

It is precisely this cautious new beginning, and the euphoria that followed, that gave rise to a special tension, which we can also recognize in the present work, which condenses the motif of the forest into a vibrant interplay of colors. The dark trunks contrast with the luminous, lush shades of green and blue in the trees and sky, creating a mysterious, almost enchanted atmosphere. Nature appears as something sublime, imbued with elemental power.

As a member of the “Brücke” art group, Hermann Max Pechstein left a significant mark on Modernism and Expressionism. He played a key role in giving color its own distinct expressive power. His numerous study trips to Nida on the Curonian Spit had a decisive influence on his oeuvre. His intense engagement with nature led to a series of impressive landscape depictions in which the painter uniquely captured his feelings. [MH]