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Max Weber
1881–1961
BirthplaceBialystok, Russian Empire (now Poland)
Death placeGreat Neck, New York, United States of America
BiographyPainter, printmaker, sculptor and writer, Max Weber was born in Russia, the son of Orthodox Jewish parents, and immigrated with them to the United States in 1891. After settling in Brooklyn, Weber attended Pratt Institute, studying theory and design with Arthur Wesley Dow. From 1905 to 1909, the artist lived in Paris, where he experienced firsthand the many manifestations of modernism burgeoning in the visual arts. He enjoyed a stimulating and diverse circle of artists and intellectuals, developing a close relationship with self-taught artist Henri Rousseau (1844–1910) and helping to organize a class with Henri Matisse (1869–1954) as its instructor.
Having immersed himself in the controversial issues of modern European art, Weber returned to New York as an enthusiastic practitioner of avant-garde art. By 1910 he was contributing articles on art and color theory to Alfred Stieglitz’s (1864–1946) pioneering journal Camera Work. A year later his art was featured at Stieglitz’s 291 Gallery, although their close relationship ended shortly thereafter. Weber’s first volume of poetry, Cubist Poems, debuted in 1914 and was followed two years later by his Essays on Art, one of the few theoretical tracts produced by an American modernist. Prolific in diverse media, Weber explored the possibilities of abstract form in a series of small sculptures and in printmaking and other graphic arts. In the decade following World War I, Weber developed a more expressionistic style and an interest in narrative themes derived from his Jewish heritage. In 1930 he was the first American artist celebrated with a retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art.
Having immersed himself in the controversial issues of modern European art, Weber returned to New York as an enthusiastic practitioner of avant-garde art. By 1910 he was contributing articles on art and color theory to Alfred Stieglitz’s (1864–1946) pioneering journal Camera Work. A year later his art was featured at Stieglitz’s 291 Gallery, although their close relationship ended shortly thereafter. Weber’s first volume of poetry, Cubist Poems, debuted in 1914 and was followed two years later by his Essays on Art, one of the few theoretical tracts produced by an American modernist. Prolific in diverse media, Weber explored the possibilities of abstract form in a series of small sculptures and in printmaking and other graphic arts. In the decade following World War I, Weber developed a more expressionistic style and an interest in narrative themes derived from his Jewish heritage. In 1930 he was the first American artist celebrated with a retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art.