Hermann Max Pechstein is born on 31 December 1881 in Zwickau, Kingdom of Saxony, the son of Hermann Franz and Lina Pechstein. He has six siblings: Richard, Walter, Gertrud, Irma, Ernst and Hugo.
In 1896, after completing the III. Einfache Bürgerschule, he begins a four-year apprenticeship with master painter Rönnau. At the same time he attends the trade and guild school, from which he graduates with distinction in 1900. His first oil paintings date from this period, among them the Geierwally, a copy of a well-known work.
He works as a decorative painter in Dresden during the summer and becomes friends with Alexander Gerbig. In October, both begin their studies at the Royal School of Applied Arts in Dresden and share lodgings in Annenstraße.

After a summer as a decorative painter in Dresden, Hermann Max Pechstein begins his studies at the Royal School of Applied Arts in Dresden in the autumn of 1900. Numerous study works date from this period, including naturalistic depictions of plants and animals.

Through work for his teacher Wilhelm Kreis, an architect, Pechstein meets Otto Gußmann in 1902. Gußmann is professor of monumental and interior art at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden.

Pechstein completes his studies at the School of Applied Arts with distinction. At Easter 1903 he joins Gußmann’s master class. He later recounts his work on murals, stained-glass windows and mosaics for churches as well as state and municipal buildings, financed through competition successes and commissions.

Pechstein begins his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden as a master student of Otto Gußmann, designing stained-glass windows, mosaics and murals.

In spring 1906, a painting is rejected by the Berlin Secession. In the summer, Pechstein joins the artists’ group Brücke and shows works at the Third German Applied Arts Exhibition. In December he leaves the Academy with the Saxon State Prize (Rome Prize) and receives the commission for stained-glass windows in the town hall of Eibenstock as well as an academic travel scholarship of 1,000 marks.

In 1907, the first Brücke collection tours Germany and Zurich. Pechstein paints with Kirchner in Goppeln and completes his studies in September. He travels to Italy, visiting cities such as Florence and Rome, which shapes his artistic direction. In December, Pechstein arrives in Paris, where he is influenced by the works of Cézanne, Gauguin and Matisse, makes contact with the Fauvists and wins Kees van Dongen for the Brücke.

In Paris he works mainly on paper. The Brücke collections are shown in German cities as well as in Copenhagen and Oslo. After his return in April he spends time in Zwickau and Dresden before moving to Berlin in August. There he initially works on commissions for the architect Bruno Schneidereit and later devotes himself to artistic projects again. In December he is represented with five works at the Berlin Secession’s exhibition »Zeichnende Künste« (Graphic Arts).

In January 1909, Pechstein, Kirchner and Schmidt-Rottluff visit the Matisse exhibition in Berlin, and Pechstein meets sixteen-year-old Charlotte Kaprolat, who serves as his model. His poor financial situation forces him to work in watercolours, while in the spring he is represented with three paintings at the Berlin Secession exhibition and sells two. He describes this as his decisive breakthrough.

In June 1909 he spends the summer in Nidden, where he works with Kirchner and Heckel, and shows several paintings at the König Albert Museum in Chemnitz. After the Berlin Secession’s winter exhibition, where his works are very well received, he is elected president of the New Secession the following year, 1910, which he founds together with other artists.

His works, including the lithographs “Tanz” and “Karneval”, are created during his stays in Dangast and at the Moritzburg ponds. In March 1911 he marries Charlotte Kaprolat and undertakes a second journey to Italy. Over the course of the year he has numerous exhibitions in which his works are highly praised.

He takes part in important exhibitions in Berlin and Munich, but leaves the Brücke, finding the restrictions of exhibiting jointly too severe. In 1913, Pechstein travels several times to Italy and to Ghent, where he accepts a commission for Walter Gropius. His first son Frank is born that year.