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Max Pechstein, To All Artists! [An alle Künstler] (January 1919)

The expressionist artist Max Pechstein was regarded as a leading Social Democratic artist in the Weimar Republic. He designed the cover of this pamphlet — titled "To all Artists!" — and wrote one of its essays. This publication of the Publicity Office of the German Republic called on all artists to help create the new German republic. Established by the Social Democratic transitional government, the Publicity Office commissioned a series of posters and pamphlets to promote a return to public peace and order as well as the construction of a parliamentary democracy. The artists commissioned by the publicity office mainly belonged to the revolutionary artists’ November Group — such as Pechstein, César Klein, and Ludwig Meidner — or the Worker Art Council, in which many expressionists were active. The publicity service was dissolved in March 1919, after elections to the National Assembly. With its strong, contrasting colors and expressionist style, Pechstein’s cover page was typical for the political work that the publicity office commissioned. The torch in the lower-right corner served as a kind of seal for these works, symbolizing the common struggle of the political and artistic revolution.

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Max Pechstein, <i>To All Artists!</i> [<i>An alle Künstler</i>] (January 1919)

Courtesy of Alexander Pechstein, Max Pechstein Urheberrechtsgemeinschaft