Max Stern was born in Düsseldorf in 1872. He studied at the Düsseldorf Academy from 1888-92 with Hugo Crola, Heinrich Lauenstein, Adolf Schill, Peter Janssen and Eduard von Gebhardt. From 1892-94 he received further training in Munich with among others, Carl von Marr in 1893. He became a German Jewish painter, draftsman and graphic artist. From 1894-95 he served in the military. In 1895 he took several months to study in Venice and later regularly took study trips to Italy, Holland (Amsterdam, Katwijk), Belgium, Switzerland, Alsace-Lorraine and France (Paris). In 1893, Stern became a member of the Munich Secession, with whom he exhibited. From 1914-18 he served as a non-commissioned officer in the First World War. He then exhibited again at the Munich Glass Palace and the major art exhibitions in Berlin and Dusseldorf. Initially an impressionist, Stern turned to Neue Sachlichkeit in the 1920s. After 1933 his work was reduced as he received a professional ban and was documented and defamed as "degenerate". From 1895-1930/31 he was a member of the Düsseldorf artist association "Malkasten" and was still able to exhibit in 1933-36, thanks to the support of the Rhineland Art Association and the Jewish Cultural Association. During the November pogroms in 1938, Stern was looted by the SA. The painter lived hidden with his family in Düsseldorf. He was a member of the Rhenish Secession and the artist association "Das Junge Rheinland". He was active in Düsseldorf-Pempelfort.