Portrait

Max Liebermann's graphic depicts a bust of Albert Einstein, one of the most eminent modern physicists, shortly after his discovery that a light ray bends in a gravitational field. The artist has concentrated on showing the scientist's face. The attention is drawn to the large and dark eyes, full of concentration, and the gaze directed into space. This portrait of Einstein is little known. It is a lithograph printed on cream paper imitating Japanese one, published in 1922 by Künstlerspende für das Deutsche Buchmuseum (Artists' Donations to the German Book Museum) in Leipzig, in portfolio No. 1. In 1923, Liebermann painted an oil portrait of the physicist based on this print. A more famous likeness of Einstein made by Liebermann is a bust from 1925.Max Liebermann was born in 1847 in Berlin and died in 1935. He was a painter, graphic artist and draughtsman. He initially studied at the Carl Steffeck School of Painting in Berlin. In 1873, he took up studies in a progressive academic environment at Weimar's School of Fine Arts. His work was influenced by the realist Mihály Munkácsy. From 1884 he worked in Berlin. In 1892, together with Walter Leistikow, he founded an artists' association called the Vereinigung der XI (Association of the Eleven), and in 1898 he became a co-founder of the Berlin Secession. Like Lovis Corinth and Max Slevogt, he significantly influenced German art at the 20th century. He is considered a leading representative of German Impressionism.

Ewa Gwiazdowska