Reinhold Rudolf Junghanns (Zwickau, Germany 1884-1967 Zurich)
Portrait of Emmy Hennings 1
Variationen über ein weibliches Thema
[Variations on a Feminine Theme]
etching with hand-coloring
1913
monogrammed in pencil lower right: "RRJ"
The Daulton Collection
Provenance: Heinrich Stinnes
This is one of the plates from Junghanns' print cycle entitled Variationen über ein weibliches Thema [Variations on a Feminine Theme], published in 1913 by Kurt Wolff, Leipzig. (Hans Vollmer, Thieme-Becker, II, 579) The Daulton Collection owns the entire cycle, impression number 1 of 90 numbered copies, consisting of a title page with imprint and 9 original Color etchings (1 signed, 6 monogrammed, 1 hand-colored) on wove paper (1), Japan (6), and silk (2) as well as 2 collotype plates, with plate sizes from approx. 17 x 10 to 44 x 26 cm; assembled as loose sheets under passepartouts (mats) in a double parchment folder, measuring 57 x 40,5 cm. Our superlative copy, impression number 1, is from the collection of the bibliophile Heinrich Stinnes (1867-1932), with his distinctive signature on the title and inside mirror of the portfolio.
Discussion:
The prints depict Emmy Hennings (1885-1948), the German avant-garde poet and performer who was married to the Dada artist Hugo Ball and was a founding member of Cabaret Voltaire.
Neue Zürcher Zeitung, "Sünde und Sehnsucht," August 6, 2016:
"One only has to study the etchings by the Zurich graphic artist Reinhold Rudolf Junghanns from 1912 and 1913, the 'Variations on a Female Theme', which do not serve the cliché of the easy-going, seductive muse, but rather show Emmy in her existential wear and tear. The eyes of the portrayed are deeply shaded here, the face is marked by great suffering and extreme hardship, the muse's disheveled hair looks as if it has been glued on."
