About this book
Max Liebermann's groundbreaking essay "Die Phantasie in der Malerei" presents the passionate artistic manifesto of one of Germany's most influential impressionist painters and founder of the Berlin Secession. Originally delivered as a lecture in 1903 and published in book form in 1916, this seminal work explores the fundamental role of imagination in painting while championing naturalism and observed reality as the true foundation of visual art.
Liebermann argues that the subject matter of a painting matters far less than the artist's ability to capture nature through appropriate painterly means. In this personal plea for impressionism, he boldly rejects the emerging movements of abstraction and expressionism, rejecting any artistic creation divorced from direct observation of the real world. Written during a moment of profound aesthetic confusion and amid the chaos of World War I, Liebermann's essay serves as both a defense of his artistic principles and a window into the fierce debates that defined early twentieth-century European art.
This art history essay is essential listening for artists, art historians, students of modernism, and anyone seeking to understand the philosophical battles that shaped contemporary painting. Liebermann's eloquent arguments offer timeless insights into the tension between tradition and innovation that continues to resonate in artistic discourse today.
