Portrait of Wilhelm von Bode

1913

Leaves the Secession after Cassirer's election

Liebermann tried to prevent the election of a non-artist, Paul Cassirer, as chairman; Cassirer barred from the 1913 exhibition the members who had voted against him, and when Corinth unexpectedly sided with them, Liebermann and the other founders left the Secession. In February 1914 the Free Secession was founded, continuing the tradition of the original Secession.

autumn 1914

Signs the appeal “To the Cultural World!”

In the autumn of 1914 Liebermann was among the 93 signatories — mostly professors, writers and artists — who denied German war crimes. After the war he spoke self-critically of the appeal, explaining it by solidarity with his country.

1914

War propaganda: drawings for “Kriegszeit”

Three weeks after the outbreak of war, the 67-year-old Liebermann wrote that he was working on as calmly as possible, yet he was gripped by patriotism and devoted himself to artistic war propaganda, drawing for Paul Cassirer's weekly leaflets “Kriegszeit”. He backed Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg's policy of domestic “truce” and was later sharply criticised for his enthusiasm for the war.

May 1915

His daughter Käthe marries Kurt Riezler

In May 1915 Liebermann's daughter Käthe married the diplomat Kurt Riezler, an adviser to Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg with close contacts in politics.

1917

Retrospective for his 70th birthday at the Prussian Academy

The Academy showed almost 200 paintings; the director of the National Gallery, Ludwig Justi, promised Liebermann a cabinet of his own, and Wilhelm II approved the exhibition and awarded him the Order of the Red Eagle, 3rd class. The honoree noted with satisfaction that the Kaiser had buried the hatchet against modern art.