Max Lingner

Born Nov. 17, 1888, in Leipzig; died Mar. 14, 1959, in Berlin. German painter and graphic artist (German Democratic Republic). Member of the German Academy of Arts (1950).

From 1907 to 1913, Lingner studied at the Academy of Arts in Dresden. He took part in the Kiel Uprising of 1918. From 1928 to 1949 he worked in Paris, contributing to the Communist press; he was a member of the French Communist Party and took part in the Resistance Movement. In 1949, Lingner became a professor at the Higher School of Fine and Applied Art in Berlin (GDR). He did drawings for newspapers, book illustrations, posters, cycles of drawings (Suburbs of Paris, gouache, 1930–38), murals (Construction of the GDR, a mural on porcelain tiles, 1952–53, House of Ministries, Berlin; The Peasant War, 1952–55, Museum of German History, Berlin), and easel paintings (Two Wars—Two Widows, distemper, 1946, National Gallery, Berlin). His works are marked by their striking composition, incisive topicality, and distinctive images. Lingner was awarded the National Prize in 1952 and 1955.