1901 – 1904 - Studies and Artistic Development

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.