Approximately 45 paintings by Max Liebermann (1847-1935) highlight stylistic changes in Liebermann's art, as he introduced modernism to Germany, and became one of his country's most renowned cultural figures. The show also attempts to examine the changing social and political climate in which the artist lived and worked. German-French antipathy, which came to a head militarily in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) is one example; as a Francophile, Liebermann had to combat anti-French bias throughout this period.
Another key development was the creation of a unified Germany in 1871, in which a new constitution emancipated Jews and gave them full rights as German citizens. As a member of a wealthy Berlin Jewish family, Liebermann exemplified his social class and its embrace of Bildung, or high culture.
The exhibition also incorporates self-portraits; from 1902 until the year of his death in 1935, Liebermann created 46 of them.
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