Badende Knaben

1898

President of the Berlin Secession

When the jury of the Great Berlin Art Exhibition, chaired by Anton von Werner, rejected a work by Walter Leistikow, Leistikow called on independent artists to unite, and Liebermann was elected president of the association. He appointed the gallerists Bruno and Paul Cassirer as secretaries, and his fame secured the Secession public interest.

1899

First exhibition of the Berlin Secession

Liebermann invited artists from the Munich, Darmstadt and Stuttgart secessions, as well as Arnold Böcklin, Hans Thoma, Max Slevogt, Lovis Corinth and the Worpswede painters. The show was an unexpectedly loud success with strong sales, and the heated discussions around it drew public attention to the fine arts; the result was surpassed in 1900.

16 November 1911

Steps down as president of the Secession

After criticism of his leadership that came even from his own ranks, Liebermann resigned; Max Beckmann, Max Slevogt and August Gaul left with him. The general assembly elected him honorary president and entrusted the leadership to Lovis Corinth — a decision that foreshadowed the end of the Secession and the decline of German Impressionism.

1920

Elected president of the Academy of Arts

After the war and revolution Liebermann took over the Academy and tried to unite the various currents beneath its roof, Expressionism included: under him Max Pechstein, Karl Hofer, Heinrich Zille, Otto Dix and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff were admitted. He gave it a democratic structure and a free system of education.

1933

Resigns from the Prussian Academy of Arts

Liebermann gave up his honorary presidency, his senatorial posts and his membership of the Academy, telling the press that art has nothing to do with politics or ancestry and that his point of view was no longer valued.

8 febbraio 1935

Died