Born into a Jewish family in Berlin, Germany on 20 July 1847, Max Liebermann spent a formative period in Paris, then moved to Munich in 1878, before returning to Berlin in 1884. He became a leading figure in German Impressionism and was one of the founders of the Berlin Secession in 1889, of which he also became the first President. A decade on, as one of the dominant figures in the German art scene, he was considered one of the establishment figures against whom the German Expressionists revolted. After the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933 and the introduction of anti-Semitic legislation, Liebermann was obliged to resign as President of the Prussian Academy; he died two years later on 8 February 1935. In 1934 a selction of his artworks (four oils, two lithographs and a pastel) were included in athe 'Exhibition of German-Jewish Artists' Work: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture' (5-15 June 1934) organised at the Parsons Gallery, London by German-Jewish emigre dealer, Carl Braunschweig (later Charles Brunswick), which included in total 221 artworks by 86 artists suffering persecution under the Nazi regime. In 1943, Liebermann's widow, fearing Gestapo interrogation, committed suicide. In a chilling quirk of history, the Liebermanns' villa and studio at Wansee, a suburb of Berlin, was located next door to the house in which senior officials of the party gathered on 20 January 1942 to implement the so-called Final Solution to 'the Jewish question'.