Reinhold Rudolf Junghanns (Zwickau, Germany 1884-1967 Zurich)
Das Elend der Welt! [The Misery of the World!],
also known as Das Elend des Krieges! [The Misery of War!]
date unknown (circa 1920s?)
mixed media (gouache and chalk) on paper
31 x 23 cm
framed, with a biographical typescript attached to the verso of the framed drawing
monogrammed lower right: RRJ
The Daulton Collection
Provenance:
Collection of the German actor Dietmar Schönherr (1926-2014); on verso there is a document with an inscription by a third-party presenting the drawing to Schönherr for Christmas, 1983.
Purchased by The Daulton Collection in 2024 at an auction in Bonn for the benefit of the Pan y Arte Foundation in Münster, founded by Dietmar Schönherr.
Biographical Information:
Junghanns was a "pupil of R. Sterl and O. Zwintscher at the KA Dresden, of A. Jank at the KA Munich, active as a painter, sculptor and etcher in Switzerland from 1915."
Translation of typescript attached to verso of the framed drawing:
“Reinhold Rudolf Junghanns. Painter, etcher, and engraver. Born on September 29, 1884, in Zwickau. After graduating from high school, he studied at the Dresden Academy (1904–1908) and at the Academy in Munich (1908–1910). He then worked as a freelance artist in Munich. From 1916, he spent seven years in Sils-Baselgia (Engadine) recovering from a lung ailment. From 1922, he lived in Bern until moving to Zurich in 1930. He lived there until his death on February 26, 1967. Various study trips took him to the North and Baltic Seas, to France (Paris, Normandy, Brittany, etc.), to Italy (Rome, Naples, Capri, Florence), Norway, and Denmark. At a young age, his first portfolio of etchings was published by Rowohlt, followed in 1912 by another of drypoint etchings on silk, "Variations on a Female Theme," published by Kurt Wolff. In later years, two portfolios of abstract works and five portfolios of 40 collotype prints each were also published. Works by R. R. Junghanns are found in collections and museums in Bern, Bremen, Dresden, Flensburg, Gottorf, Mannheim, Munich, Stuttgart, Washington D.C., Weimar, Winterthur, Zurich, Zwickau, etc. Of great importance to R. R. Junghanns were his friendships with the painter and graphic artist Alfred Kubin, the philosopher Ludwig Klages, and the poet Rainer Maria Rilke. He had a particularly close friendship with Rilke, whose letters to him were published ([by the] Association of Olten Book Friends [Vereinigung Oltener Bücherfreunde]).”
