Hans Purrmann (1880–1966) counts among the most important German artists of the first half of the twentieth century. Both his exploration of Paul Cézanne’s work as well as his close relationship with Henri Matisse had a special influence on Purrmann as a painter, graphic artist, and author of books on art.His oeuvre of watercolors and gouaches contains over four hundred catalogued works, the first confirmed works of which date from Purrmann’s student days; the last were done in Levanto in 1965. Besides the members of Die Brücke, Purrmann was clearly one of the best watercolorists in Germany in the twenties and thirties, when he worked primarily with watercolors. Among his other impressive works are the watercolors he later painted in Italy, most of which are landscapes, and the very fragile works on paper created during his sojourns on Ischia in the fifties.