© Jim Kroft
Weekend Tips: What to Do This Weekend in Berlin
June 19 to 21, 2026: Events, festivals, exhibitions and more things to do for your perfect weekend in Berlin. more
In Focus: Liebermann's Pastels
A World in Chalk
Max Liebermann, Blumenbeet im Wannseegarten mit Blick auf den Fischotterbrunnen, 1919, Pastell auf Velin, Privatbesitz – Max Liebermann, Blumenbeet im Wannseegarten mit Blick auf den Fischotterbrunnen, 1919, Pastell auf Velin, Privatbesitz
© Privatbesitz
We dedicate the summer of 2026 to pastel art: Over the years, Max Liebermann (1847–1935) created more than a hundred pastel works. These drawings were initially exhibited as an independent series of artworks by the publisher and art dealer Bruno Cassirer on the occasion of Liebermann’s 80th birthday in July 1927.
Pastel chalks consist almost exclusively of pure colour pigments, giving them a unique luminosity and spontaneity. This exhibition is the first to be dedicated to this medium, and it demonstrates how the pastel technique—a previously overlooked aspect of his art—shaped Liebermann’s visual language. Join us and Liebermann on a journey from the Dutch coast to the Wannsee Garden.
Even his contemporaries admired him for his talent:
“Delightful […] small […] pastel sketches: a greenish sea with a rainy grey sky and delicate, vivid figures in the background. The result is not only a feeling of softness, but also, at times, a depth and richness of tone that is rarely achieved with oil paint. It is surprising that Liebermann knows how to depict even bright sunlight on such small sheets of paper with this dry chalk dust”.
(Harry David, Berliner Tageblatt, 1912).
Pastel chalks consist almost exclusively of pure colour pigments, giving them a unique luminosity and spontaneity. This exhibition is the first to be dedicated to this medium, and it demonstrates how the pastel technique—a previously overlooked aspect of his art—shaped Liebermann’s visual language. Join us and Liebermann on a journey from the Dutch coast to the Wannsee Garden.
Even his contemporaries admired him for his talent:
“Delightful […] small […] pastel sketches: a greenish sea with a rainy grey sky and delicate, vivid figures in the background. The result is not only a feeling of softness, but also, at times, a depth and richness of tone that is rarely achieved with oil paint. It is surprising that Liebermann knows how to depict even bright sunlight on such small sheets of paper with this dry chalk dust”.
(Harry David, Berliner Tageblatt, 1912).
Runtime: Sat, 06/06/2026 to Mon, 21/09/2026
Price: €12.00
Reduced price: €6.00
Reduced price info: Reduction for pupils, students, trainees, unemployed and severely disabled persons (according to ID).
Children and young people up to 18 years free, ICOM members and members of the Max Liebermann Society and refugees free.
Reduced price: €6.00
Reduced price info: Reduction for pupils, students, trainees, unemployed and severely disabled persons (according to ID).
Children and young people up to 18 years free, ICOM members and members of the Max Liebermann Society and refugees free.
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