About Max Liebermann, known for his pointed remarks, numerous anecdotes circulated in Berlin during the Kaiserreich and the Weimar Republic. They were noted by reporters and art lovers, circulated in artistic circles and salons, or passed along on the street by hearsay. Liebermann, the most famous painter of his time, head of the Berlin Secession and president of the academy, was a highly cultured citizen who nonetheless possessed a great deal of what is called "Berliner Schnauze": quick-wittedness and that humor which looks behind things, grounds pathos, and has a philosophical underpinning. Thus, in this collection of anecdotes, one finds Liebermann's entire art theories encapsulated in a witty remark with which he put Gerhart Hauptmann, who complained about the lack of resemblance in his portrait, in his place: "I painted you more like you are!".