Max Pechstein, Portrait of Siblings with Lute Player, 1913 by Atelier Liesjes

An intimate, expressive watercolour with pencil underdrawing: a man (or older figure) stands upright and plays a lute or lute-like instrument (orange-brown in colour), while two nude figures lie on the floor in a relaxed, sensual pose – one sitting/bent over, the other lying with limbs outstretched. The scene takes place in a simple room with a small table or chair in the background, blue walls and floors in warm orange-brown tones. The lines are fluid and angular, with transparent washes for skin and clothing.
Meaning This work from 1913 (the height of the Brücke period) celebrates sensuality, freedom and harmony between man and art (music). The nudes with the musician symbolise a primal joy of life, eroticism and creative unity – typical of Pechstein's exploration of the body as an expression of instinct and emotion. The 'geschwister' (brother/sister) motif suggests innocence or incestuous undertones in a mythical/exotic light, inspired by non-Western art and the Brücke ideals of liberation from bourgeois norms. In 1913, it marks a phase of intense, raw expression before his departure from the group.
Technique Watercolour over pencil on paper: transparent, flowing washes for skin and background (blue, orange, yellow), combined with black contour lines and quick brushstrokes for dynamism and emotion. The style is sketchy and expressive, with minimal detail but maximum feeling – characteristic of Pechstein's Brücke watercolours around 1913, with Fauvist colour and primitive simplicity.

Hermann Max Pechstein (Zwickau, 31 December 1881 – Berlin, 29 June 1955) was a painter from Germany. Pechstein is considered an important representative of Expressionism. In 1918, after the First World War, Pechstein co-founded the Arbeitsrat für Kunst (Workers' Council for Art) and in 1922 he became a member of the Prussian Academy of Arts.