
Born: July 20th, 1847 - Berlin, Germany
Died: February 8th, 1935 - Berlin, Germany

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"Just as the artist - in Schiller's fine words - receives his rules from the object, meaning from nature, so should an art historian support his claims through the laws of the art work itself."
Summary of Max Liebermann
Liebermann is widely celebrated as both a forerunner of German Impressionism and as the founder of the influential avant-gardist Berlin Secession. Drawing on the techniques of French Impressionism and the Dutch Hague School, his naturalistic painting departed from the traditional methods and genres of academic German art. Galvanized by the paintings Édouard Manet and Edgar Degas, he began to experiment more and more with light and color on canvas. But while his formal approach became secondary to subject matter (as it was for the French masters), Liebermann always remained true to the narrative traditions of German art. Indeed, his art drew upon a wide range of subjects, from the travails of hard manual labor, to the leisure pastimes of bourgeois German society. In the autumn of his career, Liebermann led the Berlin Academy, and was elected its president until the Nazis came to power and forced him to resign his position shortly before his death.
Key Ideas

The second child of four, Max Liebermann was born in 1847 in Berlin to Louis Liebermann, a wealthy Jewish manufacturer, banker and councilor, and Philippine Liebermann (née Haller). In 1860, The Liebermann family bought the "Dannenberg'sche Kattun-Fabrik", one of the leading
Important Art by Max Liebermann The below artworks are the most important by Max Liebermann - that both overview the major creative periods, and highlight the greatest achievements by the artist. | |
![]() ![]() | Women Plucking Geese (1871)Artwork description & Analysis: This work shows a darkened room in which several mature women pluck geese. There are baskets of feathers at their sides. A sense of stoicism permeates the room, which appears quite impoverished and dirty, with hay and feathers lying on the floor. A man is shown bringing more geese to the women and his presence adds the only hint of social interaction to the narrative on working-class rural life. Oil on canvas - National Gallery, Berlin |
![]() ![]() | Self-Portrait in Kitchen with Still-Life (1873)Artwork description & Analysis: This work portrays Liebermann himself (in a chef's cap) smiling over a group of cabbage, cauliflower, mushrooms, carrots, leeks, potatoes and a dead chicken. On the left of the frame sits a large copper pot while the leafy greens are in a large wicker basket covered with a cloth. This work is significantly darker than some of Liebermann's other early paintings given that the background is almost completely black. Oil on canvas - Stadtisches Museum, Gelsenkirchen |
![]() ![]() | The Flax Spinners (1887)Artwork description & Analysis: This work, another of his ruminations on rural labor, depicts a group of orphans working in an unkempt weaving mill. Some are pictured holding out the string whilst others sit in a line, each on their own spindle, weaving flax. The room is bleak, as is the mood of the orphans, who all wear dark, drab clothing and look down towards to floor. Nevertheless, some hope exists in the sunlight that is allowed to enter the composition through the windows. Oil on canvas - National Gallery, Berlin |
More Max Liebermann Artwork and Analysis:
Influences and Connections


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Content compiled and written by Charlotte Davis
Edited and published by The Art Story Contributors
" Artist Overview and Analysis". [Internet]. . TheArtStory.org
Content compiled and written by Charlotte Davis
Edited and published by The Art Story Contributors
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First published on 16 Jul 2019. Updated and modified regularly.
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