Die erste Hilfe (First Aid), plate VIII from Somme 1916

Max Pechstein was a leading German expressionist painter and printmaker and member of the avant-garde artist association Die Brucke. This poignant portrayal of a mortally wounded soldier is based on his own experiences and memories serving as a soldier in the German army during the First World War (1914-18). The print, a rare hand-colored proof outside of the regular edition, was published as part of a series of dramatic scenes of modern warfare that comprised Pechstein's Somme 1916 portfolio. The Somme, a region in northern France, was the site of a series of battles in the summer and fall of 1916 between allied British and French armies and entrenched German forces. The conflict soon devolved into a war of attrition that ultimately claimed more than 850, 000 lives. As a consequence, the Somme has become a symbol of the utter senselessness of war.