Pechstein's Schrei Am Meer estimated at $1.6m ahead of Munich sale

Max Pechstein's Schrei Am Meer (1919), valued at $1m-1.6m, is to headline Ketterer Kunst's German Avant-Garde, Post War and Contemporary Art auction in Munich on December 6-7.

Pechstein (1881-1955) was one of the best-known German expressionists, and a member of Die Brucke - a group that employed the visual language of primitivism with the use of bold colour and abstraction.

His work was reviled by the Nazis, who removed more than 300 of his paintings from museums and displayed 16 of his works in the Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art) exhibition of 1937.

Pechstein's Schrei am Meer was painted on his return from the first world war

During this period, Pechstein went into hiding in Pomerania, emerging at the end of the war when he was reinstated as a professor at the Berlin Academy - a position he had lost when the Nazis gained power.

Other works by Pechstein at the sale include Lotte mit Koptuch (1919), a portrait of his wife estimated to make $810,900-1m, and Selbstbildnes, a self-portrait valued at $270,300-337,875.

In 2011, a double-sided canvas that featured a figurative painting on one side and a still life on the other set Pechstein's auction record at $4.7m.

Figur auf grauem Grund by Oskar Schlemmer (1888-1943) will be another highlight of the sale, valued at $324,360-378,420.

Schlemmer was a significant figure in the Bauhaus school, taking on the role of master of form at the theatre workshop in 1923.

His work also featured in the Nazi's Entartete Kunst exhibition.

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