René Beeh (, January 1886 − 23 January 1922) was a German draughtsman and painter from

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

. He was held in high esteem by his contemporaries and called "the coming genius" (''das kommende Genie'') by art historian

Wilhelm Hausenstein Wilhelm Hausenstein (17 June 1882 – 3 June 1957) was a German politician, writer, journalist, art critic, historian and diplomat. He was the first German ambassador to France following World War II. Life and career Early life Hausenstein was ...

, but with his having died prematurely, he has been mostly forgotten.

Life and work

Beeh was taught in the Fine Arts School in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...

from 1900 until 1905, then in the

Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

(

student number A campus credential, more commonly known as a campus card or a campus ID card is an identification document certifying the status of students, faculty, staff or other constituents as members of the institutional community and eligible for access ...

2936, registered on 9 May 1905), where his teachers were Peter Halm,

Hugo von Habermann Hugo Joseph Anton Freiherr von Habermann (14 June 1849 – 27 February 1929) was a German painter and draftsman. He is sometimes referred to as "the Elder" to distinguish him from his nephew of the same name, who was also a painter. Life Habe ...

and Franz von Stuck. In 1910, he travelled to

French Algeria French Algeria (french: Alger to 1839, then afterwards; unofficially , ar, الجزائر المستعمرة), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of French colonisation of Algeria. French rule in the region began in 1830 with the ...

where he stayed until 1911, before journeying through

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bo ...

. In 1914, he published a selection of letters from Algeria along with sixty drawings, under the title ''M'Barka. Malerbriefe aus Algerien mit sechzig Zeichnungen''. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Beeh was drafted as a

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ...

for the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the l ...

on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers * Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...

in Belgium (on the

Ypres Salient The Ypres Salient around Ypres in Belgium was the scene of several battles and an extremely important part of the Western front during the First World War. Ypres district Ypres lies at the junction of the Ypres–Comines Canal and the Ieperlee. ...

) and Northern France. Some of his War drawings were published in the Munich review ''Zeit-Echo''. After the War, Beeh, suffering from depression, is thought to have destroyed much of his own work. He died from a severe case of seasonal flu at the age of 36. Beeh was a member of the ''Neue Münchner Secession'' (New Munich

Secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics l ...

). He was also friends with several members of the Strasbourg group of painters ''Groupe de Mai''. In 1914, Beeh illustrated a book celebrating the centenary of

Gottfried Keller Gottfried Keller (19 July 1819 – 15 July 1890) was a Swiss poet and writer of German literature. Best known for his novel '' Green Henry'' (German: ''Der grüne Heinrich'') and his cycle of novellas called ''The People from Seldwyla'' (''Die Leu ...

, and in 1919−1920, the novel '' Inferno'' by

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

. He also illustrated a 1918 edition of

Jeremias Gotthelf Albert Bitzius (4 October 179722 October 1854) was a Swiss novelist; best known by his pen name of Jeremias Gotthelf. Biography Bitzius was born at Murten, where his father was pastor. The Bitzius family had once belonged to the Bernese patrici ...

's ''

The Black Spider ''The Black Spider'' is a novella by the Swiss writer Jeremias Gotthelf written in 1842. Set in an idyllic frame story, old legends are worked into a Christian-humanist allegory about ideas of good and evil. Though the novel is initially divide ...

'', and he contributed to the periodical ''Münchner Blätter für Dichtung und Graphik'' ("Munich Journal for Poetry and Graphics") alongside

Paul Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented ...

Heinrich Campendonk Heinrich Mathias Ernst Campendonk (3 November 1889 – 9 May 1957) was a painter and graphic designer born in Germany who became a naturalized Dutch citizen. Life Campendonk was born in Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He was th ...

and

Alfred Kubin Alfred Leopold Isidor Kubin (10 April 1877 – 20 August 1959) was an Austrian printmaker, illustrator, and occasional writer. Kubin is considered an important representative of Symbolism and Expressionism. Biography Kubin was born in Bohemia ...

''La Révolution''

The artist's most ambitious surviving work is the large painting ''La Révolution'' ("The Revolution") (

oil on canvas Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest o ...

, x , painted 1918–1919), an ominous depiction of the events of November 1918 in Strasbourg using solely

tints and shades In color theory, a tint is a mixture of a color with white, which increases lightness, while a shade is a mixture with black, which increases darkness. Both processes affect the resulting color mixture's relative saturation. A tone is produc ...

ochre Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...

and brown. The painting shows a small group of men seen from very close who are grabbing

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

s and seem ready to launch an assault; but instead of rushing forward towards the viewer, they are gazing at a figure in

workwear Workwear is clothing worn for work, especially work that involves manual labour. Often those employed within trade industries elect to be outfitted in workwear because it is built to provide durability and safety. The workwear clothing industry ...

, who sits motionless with an inscrutable expression. The action seems frozen and time appears suspended in the very moment where violence is breaking out.

Posterity

In 2008, the Musée historique in

Haguenau Haguenau (; Alsatian language, Alsatian: or ; and historically in English: ''Hagenaw'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Bas-Rhin Département in France, department of France, of which it is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture. ...

organised an exhibition of his works, the first in France since his premature death, 86 years before. The

Musée d'art moderne et contemporain of Strasbourg The Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain de Strasbourg (MAMCS, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art) is an art museum in Strasbourg, France, which was founded in 1973 and opened in its own building in November 1998. One of the largest of its ...

owns 98 works (as of 1 January 2016) by Beeh: 54

prints In molecular biology, the PRINTS database is a collection of so-called "fingerprints": it provides both a detailed annotation resource for protein families, and a diagnostic tool for newly determined sequences. A fingerprint is a group of conserved ...

, 36 drawings and 8 paintings, among which two self-portraits, a portrait of the artist's father and of the artist's sister, and ''La Révolution''. The

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 19 ...

currently owns 83 works by the artist, drawings and prints, and the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...

currently owns 27 works, also drawings and prints.

Gallery

René Beeh Révolution (retouché).jpg, ''The Revolution'' (1918–1919) René Beeh, Scène de bordel en Algérie.jpg, ''

Brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub p ...

scene in Algeria'' (1915) René Beeh, Légionnaire poignardé par un Algérien.jpg, '' French Legionnaire being stabbed by an Algerian'' (1915) René Beeh, Homme assis dans un bar.jpg, ''Man sitting in a bar'' (before 1922) René Beeh, Tranchée.jpg, ''

Trench A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches result from ero ...

'' (between 1915 and 1918) René Beeh, Projet pour Inferno de Strindberg, Sackgasse.jpg, ''Dead End'' (project for ''Inferno'' by Strindberg, 1919)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beeh, Rene Painters from Alsace 1886 births 1922 deaths 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists Expressionist painters German draughtsmen Artists from Strasbourg Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni German male painters German Army personnel of World War I German surveyors Deaths from influenza