Marcus Behmer (Weimar 1879-1958 Berlin)
Head of Pan (or Satyr or Faun), being an early preliminary drawing that Behmer created for the important Viennese Art Nouveau magazine Ver Sacrum and which he passed on as a gift 56 years later.
circa 1900
India ink and faint-blue pencil on handmade paper
15,0 × 15,2 cm (sheet 29,5 × 20,5 cm)
monogrammed "MB" lower right
below in pencil by the artist later dedicated in 1956:
"Sischinello carissimo! THANKS TO!!! 4. VII. 56 a rívedérchi Róma ... O"
inscribed on verso: "Berlin-Charlottenburg 9. Altenburger Allee 19. I.1. bei K. Kühl"
Condition: crease marks on the lower and upper margins; brown stains in the left margin.
Publication History:
Ver Sacrum, Heft 22 (1900), pg. 347.
Discussion:
"Indian ink preliminary drawing for issue 22 of the magazine Ver Sacrum, year 1900, where an almost identical satyr head is shown
in red or green. Nebehay refers to the head as a 'devil's head.' Marcus Behmer often caricatured himself as a satyr or faun. The present ink
drawing was dedicated by Behmer in 1956: 'Sischinello carissimo! THANKS
TO!!! 4. VII. 56 a rívedérchi Róma ... O' and also inscribed on the
reverse 'Berlin-Charlottenburg 9. Altenburger Allee 19. I.1. bei K.
Kühl.'" KK
"Behmer liked to call himself Ohm (\u8486 ) to younger
friends. 'The creative power of the artist, who felt like an old man after 19
months in prison and the subsequent professional ban until the collapse of the
NS regime, was broken. Behmer's letters as well as his artistic works, which
had become rare, were usually signed with the O as the last letter of the Greek
alphabet: an omega, which he used as a physical designation of the (electrical)
resistance measured in ohms and as an abbreviation for the term 'uncle,' and thus had a
double meaning' (Klingspor Museum, p. 408f.)." KK
"Regarding the address on the verso, which is for
Kate Kühl (1899-1970; actress and chansonnière), Behmer wrote to Fritz Hohmeyer on March 10, 1955: 'I've been a tenant at
Kate Kühl's for 1 ½ years - for 3/4 years she's been making my life hell, a
beast of ruthlessness, and so galls my life last few days, does not repay her
debts to me. But I am too exhausted, too weak to look for a place to stay and
to move again' (Klingspor Museum, p. 412, footnote 3)." KK
Indian ink preliminary drawing for issue 22, p. 347 of the magazine Ver Sacrum , year 1900, where an almost identical satyr head is shown in red or green. Nebehay refers to the head as a "devil's head". - Marcus Behmer often caricatured himself as a satyr or faun. The present ink drawing was dedicated by Behmer in 1956: "Sischinello carissimo! THANKS TO!!! 4. VII. 56 a rívedérchi Róma ... O" and also inscribed on the reverse "Berlin-Charlottenburg 9. Altenburger Allee 19. I.1. bei K. Kühl".
Behmer liked to call himself Ohm (\u8486 ) to younger friends. “The creative power of the artist, who felt like an old man after 19 months in prison and the subsequent professional ban until the collapse of the NS regime, was broken. Behmer's letters as well as his artistic works, which had become rare, were usually drawn with the O as the last letter of the Greek alphabet: an omega, which he used as a physical designation of the (electrical) resistance measured in ohms and as an abbreviation for the term 'uncle' had a double meaning" (Klingspor Museum, p. 408f.).
Regarding the address mentioned on the back for Kate Kühl (1899-1970; actress and chansonnière): "I've been a tenant at Kate Kühl's for 1 ½ years - for 3/4 years she's been making my life hell, a beast of ruthlessness, and so galls my life last few days, does not repay her debts to me. But I am too exhausted, too weak to look for a place to stay and to move again,' Behmer wrote to Fritz Hohmeyer on March 10, 1955" (Klingspor Museum, p. 412, footnote 3).
References:
Christian Nebehay, Ver Sacrum: 1898-1903 (Leipzig: Koehler & Amelang, 1981), pgs. 61 (illustration in green) und 247.
Peter Christian Hall, Delphine in Offenbach: Marcus Behmer, Meister der kleinen Formate (Offenbach am Main: Klingspor Museum der Stadt, 1981) (exhibition catalogue).
