Modernist painter and printmaker Max Weber was born in Bialystok, Russia. His family emigrated to the United States, settling in Brooklyn, New York. Weber studied at the Pratt Institute under Arthur Wesley Dow. He spent the next four years teaching in Virginia and Minnesota before moving to Paris. There he studied under Jean-Paul Laurens at the Académie Julian, at the Académie Colarossi, and at Académie de la Grande Chaumière. Weber's work was strongly influenced by Picasso and Braque.

Returning to New York Weber was taken under wing by Alfred Stieglitz, founder of Gallery 291, and it is at this time that his artistic reputation flourished. Weber eventually broke with Stieglitz and supported himself with his art and by teaching. In 1930, his work was selected for a one-man show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His mature style, the product of years of experimentation, acquired an Expressionist character and reflected the artist's social consciousness. He remained active until his death at Great Neck, New York.