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During his time in Dresden, where Max Pechstein studied at the art academy and also came into contact with the artists' group ‘Brücke’, he had already encountered carved objects made by indigenous groups from the Palau Islands in the South Seas at the local ethnological museum. From his perspective at the time, he was fascinated by the supposed closeness to nature and originality of the lives of the people in Southeast Asia, which, in his view – in keeping with the colonial spirit of the time – was also visible in their (art) craft production. Pechstein travelled to the Palau Islands himself in 1914, in search of a supposedly direct and simple reality that had long since been lost in Western Europe. However, his stay was abruptly ended by the outbreak of the First World War. He returned to Berlin under adventurous circumstances and it was only after some time that he began to process his journey artistically.

In 1919, he created a large series of 50 prints, known as Reisebilder (Travel Pictures), in which he depicted his stays in Monte Rosso al Mare in Italy and in the South Seas. The portfolio was distributed in an edition of 810 numbered copies by the Berlin publisher Paul Cassirer.

The lithograph shows a person sitting on a tree in the foreground, who appears to be observing the scene unfolding in the field below. Three women are working in the field, bending over to plant crops. In the background, there is a view of the sea and the palm-covered coastline. Max Pechstein used diary entries and small drawings he made on site as the basis for his travel pictures. They show everyday scenes and are characterised by ornamental, decorative compositions that idealise the reality of life in the region. The Von der Heydt Museum owns three other lithographs by the artist with South Sea motifs. However, due to the light sensitivity of the material, these can only be exhibited rarely and for short periods of time. The prints will be replaced during the course of the exhibition in accordance with conservation requirements.