About the Artwork
Scenes of nature such as Under the Trees were a powerful theme for Max Pechstein and his fellow members of the expressionist Brücke (Bridge) group. Pechstein, who had received an academic training, along with other Brücke members rejected the “Gedankenkunst” (cerebral art) of the art academies and introduced innovative artistic practices. The new method of working involved nonprofessional models who were asked to change poses every fifteen minutes to ensure spontaneity and allow the artists to capture the very essence of the scene. In 1911, Pechstein visited Nidden, a remote fishing village on the Curonian Peninsula on the Baltic Sea — the setting for this work. With quickly drawn but clear contours, Pechstein depicts naked women in harmony with nature, conveying a vision of an unspoiled existence, untouched by modernity.
Under the Trees
1911
Max Pechstein
1881-1955
German
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Oil on canvas
Unframed: 29 × 39 inches (73.7 × 99.1 cm) Framed: 36 11/16 × 46 5/8 × 3 3/8 inches (93.2 × 118.4 × 8.6 cm)
Paintings
European Modern Art to 1970
City of Detroit Purchase
21.206
Restricted
Markings
Signed and dated, lower left: Pechstein 1911
Provenance
1921, possibly (Gurlitt).1921, possibly sold through (Lucerne Fine Art Co.).
1921-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
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Provenance pageExhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Berlin 1913: Kunstsalon Gurlitt. Exh. cat., Kunstsalon Gurlitt. Berlin, 1913, (possibly no. 20). [as In den Dunen]
Munchen 1913: Neue Kunst, 2. Exh. cat., Galerie Hans Goltz. Munchen, 1913, no. 121 (ill.). [as Akte im Freien]
Hamlyn, P. Larousse Encyclopedia of Modern Art. London, p. 377 (pl. 1042).
Selz, P. German Expressionist Painting. Berkeley, 1958, p. 307.
Uhr, Horst. Masterpieces of German Expressionism at the Detroit Institute of Arts. New York, 1982, p. 190 (ill.).
Masterpieces from the Detroit Institute of Arts. Exh. cat., Bunkamura Museum of Art. Tokyo, 1989, no. 83 (ill.).
Brucke: The Birth of Expressioism in Dresden and Berlin, 1905-1913. Exh. cat., Neue Galerie. New York, 2009, p. 144, no. 18.
Rishel, Joseph J., ed. Gauguin, Cezanne, Matisse: Visions of Arcadia. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 2012, pp. 226-227 (ill.).
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Credit Line for Reproduction
Max Pechstein, Under the Trees, 1911, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, City of Detroit Purchase, 21.206.
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