René Georges Hermann-Paul
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René Georges Hermann-Paul (27 December 1864 – 23 June 1940) was a French artist. He was born in Paris and died in
Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (, alternatively with the definite article Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, "(the) Saint Marys of the Sea", locally Les Saintes, ; Provençal: ''Lei Santei Marias de la Mar'' or ''Li Sànti Marìo de la Mar'' ), is the c ...
. He was a well-known illustrator whose work appeared in numerous newspapers and periodicals. His fine art was displayed in gallery exhibitions alongside Vuillard,
Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...
and
Toulouse-Lautrec ''Comte'' Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 â€“ 9 September 1901), known as Toulouse-Lautrec (), was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist, and illustrator whose immersion in the colourful an ...
. Early works were noted for their satiric characterizations of the foibles of French society. His points were made with simple caricature. His illustrations relied on blotches of pure black with minimum outline to define his animated marionettes. His exhibition pieces were carried by large splashes of color and those same fine lines of black. Hermann-Paul worked in
Ripolin Ripolin is a brand of paint. It was the first commercially available brand of enamel paint. Ripolin, a brand of commercial ready-mixed paints formulated for architectural, marine and other applications, originated in the Netherlands where it was de ...
enamel paint Enamel paint is paint that air-dries to a hard, usually glossy, finish, used for coating surfaces that are outdoors or otherwise subject to hard wear or variations in temperature; it should not be confused with decorated objects in "painted enam ...
,
watercolors Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the S ...
,
woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...
s,
lithographs Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...
, drypoint engraving,
oils An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturat ...
, and
ink Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. ...
. Recent efforts to catalog the work of Hermann-Paul reveal an artist of considerable scope. On the eve of the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, he made quite an impression as part of M. Druet's "First Group." As noted by the ''
Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs ''The Burlington Magazine'' is a monthly publication that covers the fine and decorative arts of all periods. Established in 1903, it is the longest running art journal in the English language. It has been published by a charitable organisation si ...
'', the exhibition was "chiefly remarkable for a series of paintings or drawings - it is hard to say which - by M. Hermann-Paul in a new medium which is simply ripolin." The Great War soon intervened and Hermann-Paul would document its tragedy as well as its foibles. After the war, he underwent several stylistic changes. In his later years, he produced many works in dry point and ink depicting his beloved
Camargue The Camargue (, also , , ; ) is a coastal region in southern France located south of the city of Arles, between the Mediterranean Sea and the two arms of the Rhône river delta. The eastern arm is called the Grand Rhône; the western is the ''P ...
.


Early work

Between 1890 and 1914 he worked as a
lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German ...
(both in color and in black and white) and as an illustrator for weekly publications such as ''La Faridondaine'', '' Le Courrier Français'', ''Le Cri de Paris'', ''
Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...
'', ''Le Petit Bleu'', ''Gil-Blas'' and ''
Le Rire ''Le Rire'' (, "Laughter") was a successful French humor magazine published from October 1894 until its final issue in April 1971. Founded in Paris during the Belle Époque by Felix Juven, ''Le Rire'' appeared as typical Parisians began to ach ...
''. Despite great elegance and beauty, his work was imbued with social criticism from the start. Although the bourgeoisie received the brunt of his mockery, Hermann-Paul prodded all aspects of Parisian society. He was critical of rich and poor alike. He attacked monarchs, paupers, politicians, clerics and elements of the established order. Peripheral players in the art world received particular attention. As early as 1895 his famous ''Vie de Monsieur Quelconque'' and ''Vie de Madame Quelconque'' poked holes in the established understanding of the typical aspirations of the middle class in matters both public and private. By 1900 most Parisians familiar with the local news weeklies were aware of the artist's work. He was a staunch defender of Captain
Alfred Dreyfus Alfred Dreyfus (9 October 1859 – 12 July 1935) was a French Army officer best known for his central role in the Dreyfus affair. In 1894, Dreyfus fell victim to a judicial conspiracy that eventually sparked a major political crisis in the Fre ...
, whom he considered an innocent man. The artist's suspicions were substantiated after one of Dreyfus's accusers broke down under interrogation. Hubert-Joseph Henry confessed that the damning documents were actually forged. After Henry slit his throat in prison, Hermann-Paul produced a cartoon in which two people stand over the fresh grave of Major Henry. One says to the other, "This one, at least, won't give us any trouble." ''Avec celui-là au moins on est tranquille.'' During this time, Hermann-Paul produced work in the " intimiste" style which often depicted bourgeois settings populated by women sipping tea or quietly sewing. The term was coined – derisively, it seems – by
Édouard Vuillard Jean-Édouard Vuillard (; 11 November 186821 June 1940) was a French painter, decorative artist, and printmaker. From 1891 through 1900, Vuillard was a member of the avant garde artistic group Les Nabis, creating paintings that assembled areas ...
who used it to describe his own style. Other practitioners include Maurice Lobre, Hughes de Beaumont,
Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...
, Rene Prinet and
Ernest Laurent Ernest Joseph Laurent (June 8, 1859 – June 25, 1929) was a French painter and printmaker. He was born in Gentilly and died in Bièvres, Essonne. Laurent was a neo-impressionist artist whose main influences were his instructor Ernest Hé ...
. The Intimists first collective exhibition was shown at Henry Grave's galleries in 1905. The exhibition included several works by Hermann-Paul.


The Great War

By the summer of 1914, Hermann-Paul was firmly entrenched in the political left. A decade earlier, the Dreyfus Affair cleaved the country decisively along the lines of left and right; there was little doubt as to where the artist stood. Dreyfusards tended to be radicals, liberals, republicans, anti-clericals and pacifists. Their opponents tended to be royalists, conservatives, anti-Semites, and supporters of the church and army. In the years leading up to the war, Hermann-Paul's political commentary was consistent with the views of the political left. There was nothing in his published work to indicate the sharp turn he was about to take. When the war began that fateful summer, the general populace was caught completely off guard. It arrived in Europe like a "peal of thunder reverberating in a clear sky." For Hermann-Paul, there was little doubt as to who was responsible; he blamed the Germans whose armies were marching toward Paris. Hermann-Paul was almost fifty when the Great War began. As an energetic man, he was likely hobbled by a general sense of uselessness. He channeled that energy into his art and he proceeded to document the war. It was at this time, when the artist switched mediums. His earlier print work required metal which was suddenly in short supply. By necessity, Hermann-Paul switched to wood. He started making woodcuts. His first major series in wood was "The Four Seasons of Culture", a series of five woodcuts that depicted atrocities committed by the Germans in Belgium. The series is rich in texture and stunning in its detail. It depicts looting, burning and rape. It was met with immediate backlash from the political left. With his depiction of a brutal enemy raping its way across Europe, critics on the left claimed he was helping to shut down avenues toward peace. Negotiations were impossible with Hermann-Paul's brutal '' Bosch''. This type of work would only help prolong the war, they said. His next major work did little to placate his new found critics. It was entitled ''Calendrier de la Guerre'', "Calendar of the War". It tends to promote patriotic attitudes toward the war and the generals who conducted it. For the left, these were the generals who senselessly sent young men to slaughter in pointless attacks against entrenched machine guns. As far as they were concerned, Hermann-Paul became a traitor to the cause of peace.


Post-war

After the war, he continued to work in the media he discovered by circumstance. Metal shortages compelled him to search for another print form and that's when he discovered the modernist woodcut. He would continue to work in wood until age started to get the best of him in the late 1930s. During this time, he produced many fine art prints and book illustrations. Hermann-Paul did a sizeable number of illustrations for ''
Candide ( , ) is a French satire written by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, first published in 1759. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled ''Candide: or, All for the Best'' (1759); ''Candide: or, The ...
'' in the interwar period, but these were the exception rather than the rule. Wood was without question, his primary form. His post-war illustrations tended to be apolitical, in stark contrast with his pre-war work. Hermann-Paul's first major post-war work was a morbid series of woodcuts in book form, ''The Dance With Death'' (''La danse macabre; vingt gravures sur bois''). The series depicts death's passage through the modern world. Men are seen as isolated and lonely creatures. The meaning of individual works is not always clear but the series is a firm indictment of modern mechanized warfare. It did little to placate old allies. Unable to mend old fences with the political left and not disposed toward the tendencies of the right, Hermann-Paul abandoned politics in the interwar period. His inspirations become more literary than journalistic and his style evolved from a belle époque line to a modernist simplification. Hermann-Paul practiced some painting on canvas, but it was never a form he mastered. First and foremost his contribution to the art world resides in his daring composition of the 1890s and 1920s in lithography and in woodcut respectively. His many book illustrations, both reproductive and original also deserve much praise, as does his immense production of journalistic satire in the 1890s through the end of the 1910s. The unique works of art that should be remembered are beautiful works on paper: pastels, color drawings, watercolors and preparatory pencil sketches for his publications. File:HERMANNPAUL Flamenco.jpg, ''Flamenco'' (1920). File:HERMANNPAUL FemmeEspagnole.jpg, ''Femme Espagnole'' (1920).


Rediscovered

During the 1980s, the Zimmerli Museum at Rutgers acquired no fewer than 150 pieces by the artist. They demonstrate a range of expression for which few collectors had previously given him credit. Interest has recently surged since Hermann-Paul's work was rediscovered by a larger public through the auction of his earlier pieces in October 2000 in
Chartres Chartres () is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 1 ...
. Many drawings and prints currently on the market bear the stamp of this sale on the verso.


References


External links


Hermann-Paul
- Online biography and illustrated gallery
Les Amis de Job
- Illustrations from ''Le Rire, l'Assiette au Beurre'', Charivari...
''L'Assiette au Beurre''
- Illustrations from ''L'Assiette au Beurre''
''Le Rire''
- Illustrations from ''Le Rire''
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Image search for Hermann-Paul {{DEFAULTSORT:Hermann-Paul 1864 births 1940 deaths Artists from Paris French caricaturists French editorial cartoonists French satirists French lithographers Académie Julian alumni École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs alumni Nabis (art) People from Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer