Opening the exhibition season at the Germanic Museum is a memorial display of etchings, lithographs and drawings by Max Liebermann, one of Germany's greatest artists.

Over sixty examples of his work were borrowed from the collection of Mr. Erich Cohn of New York and illustrate all of the phases of the great German impressionist.

At the beginning of his career Liebermann was influenced by the proletarian movements that were sweeping Europe in the 'eighties. In his prints and paintings he represents the humble worker in his shop or in the fields.

The spectator is conscious of the drabness of the milien and the smallness of the figure in proportion to the setting. Since the artist wanted to emphasize class and mass rather than the individual, the workers are not strongly characterized. This phase of Liebermann is illustrated by such etchings as the Weavers or the Net Menders.

Later, the emphasis changes and technical problems of outdoor lighting, atmosphere, and open air occupy the artist. The many etchings and lithographs of street scenes, landscapes, boys bathing in a river on a bright summer day show this shift of interest.

As Liebermann matures, his style becomes more and more linear, the tonality becomes lighter and a freshness and power of draftsmanship appears. Prints of horse racing and polo games illustrate masterful drawing and a vigorous rendering of figures in violent motion.

In his portrait etchings, Liebermann displays the same powerful drawing and, in addition, an ability at brilliant characterization. These qualities make him the most widely known and admired of the modern German artists.