The Folkwang-Museumsverein acquires Pechstein paintings for the Museum Folkwang

The Folkwang-Museumsverein has acquired the painting Tänzer by Max Pechstein (1881-1955) for the collection of the Museum Folkwang at the auction of Ketterer Kunst Munich on December 6th. The Museum Folkwang is thus expanding its collection of Expressionists with an important work. From February 2020, the Museum Folkwang will make the new acquisition accessible to the public in its collection presentation. Our members will have the opportunity to admire the painting in advance in an exclusive preview. Details will be communicated at a later date.

For a hammer price of 1 million euros (plus premium), Max Pechstein's work Tänzer will be transferred from a private collection to the Museum Folkwang. The purchase was made possible with funds from the estate of the Dr. Walter Griese Collection. The first owner of the work was theatre director and director Felix Hollaender.

Ulrich Blank, Chairman of the Folkwang-Museumsverein: "Max Pechstein has succeeded in creating a wonderfully light and vivacious performance of two flamenco dancers that inspires us. We would like to express our gratitude to the founders of the acquisition funds Dr. Walter and Liselotte Griese. It was they who made it possible for us to purchase this important work for artists and the time of its creation, with their extensive estate."

Peter Gorschlüter, Director of the Museum Folkwang: "With the painting Tänzer (1910) the Museum Folkwang enriches its collection with an outstanding work by Max Pechstein. The purchase further develops the Expressionist holdings from the donation of the Dr. Walter Griese Collection, which includes works by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Lyonel Feininger, Alexej von Jawlensky and Erich Heckel, among others".

Tänzer is one of Max Pechstein's rare paintings that deals with dance and the movement of the body. Here, a gestural application of paint replaces the uniformly juxtaposed brushstrokes in the style of Vincent van Gogh, which still dominated Pechstein's paintings in the summer of 1910. In this respect, the painting Tänzer (Dancers) in the collection of the Museum Folkwang clearly concludes Pechstein's creative period between the early river landscape (around 1907) and Girls at the Table (1910). With this new acquisition, the Museum Folkwang now has a total of four paintings, two posters and 15 prints by Max Pechstein.

From February 2020, the Museum Folkwang will dedicate its own collection room to the new acquisition, which will present the manifold references to the museum's expressionist holdings and the motifs connected to the theme of "dance," including works by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Emil Nolde, Henri Matisse, and Edgar Degas.