Am Kanal von Amsterdam

1897

Jubilee exhibition for his 50th birthday at the Academy

For his half-century the Academy of Arts gave Liebermann an entire hall: 30 paintings, 9 drawings, 3 lithographs and 19 etchings. He was awarded a large gold medal and the title of professor of the Academy.

1897

Employed by: Academy of Arts, Berlin

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.

1903

The essay “Fantasy in Painting”

In his first publication as a professor of the Academy, Liebermann categorically rejected art that does not reflect the perception of reality: in painting, he held, the subject matters little, while a perception of nature adequate to the artistic means is what counts. In doing so he firmly turned away from emerging abstract art and Expressionism.

1907

Exhibition for his 60th birthday at the Berlin Secession

The Secession staged a large exhibition in honour of its president's jubilee, and it was a great success; the honoree himself spent his 60th birthday in Noordwijk, hiding from his admiring public.