Max Pechstein, membership card for passive members of Die Brücke for 1909.

by Atelier Liesjes

A double-sided print (woodcut on rough paper): Front: Three stylised naked female figures (left) in dynamic, primitive poses, with raised arms and bent bodies, framed by an architectural or decorative element. The lines are rough, thick and angular, typical of Brücke woodcuts.
Reverse: A rectangular text block with the words: KÜNSTLERGRUPPE BRÜCKEPASSIVES MITGLIED1909 and below that, handwritten or stamped: Herr Professor E. KirchnerChemnitz The print is pure black on beige/brown paper, with a raw, expressive aesthetic.

Meaning: This membership card from 1909 is one of the rare surviving documents of the Künstlergruppe Brücke (founded in 1905 in Dresden). Passive members (such as Professor E. Kirchner – probably a relative or acquaintance of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner) paid a small contribution and in return received original prints (often woodcuts or etchings) by the members. Pechstein designed this card with typical Brücke motifs: nudes as a symbol of freedom, primitivism and primal power. The work celebrates the community and the collective ideal of the group: raw expression, direct perception and rejection of academic art. It is a tangible example of how the Brücke tried to reach a wider audience through affordable prints. Technique Woodcut on rough, handmade or kraft paper: rough, expressive cuts with thick black lines and surfaces, high contrast and minimal details. The reverse side is letterpress or stamped with handwritten additions. Typical of early Brücke prints: primitive, direct and democratically intended.

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.