Max Weber American, 1881-1961

Max Weber, a Polish-born American painter, is celebrated as a pioneering modernist who profoundly influenced the trajectory of American art in the early 20th century. Through his experimentations in Cubism, Expressionism, and Fauvism in the first decades of the twentieth century, Weber transformed what had previously been regarded as movements unique to Europe’s avant-garde into a style reflective of America’s growing cultural prominence on the world stage. After immigrating to Brooklyn from what was then part of the Russian Empire, Weber attended the Pratt Institute of Art before studying at the presitigious Académie Julian in Paris. There, Weber spent time in Henri Matisse's studio, an experience that deeply informed his artistic vision. After returning to New York in 1909, he taught at the Art Students League and exhibited at the Newark Museum, the Jewish Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art, New York.