Marcus Behmer

Marcus Behmer
Portrait of Marcus Behmer by Dorothea Werner
Born	(1879-10-01)October 1, 1879 Weimar
Died	September 12, 1958(1958-09-12)(aged 78) Berlin
Nationality	German

Marcus Michael Douglas Behmer(1 October 1879 – 12 September 1958), also known by the pseudonymsMarcotinoandMaurice Besnaux,was a Germanillustrator,graphic designerand painter. He was the first well-known German artist to publicly admit to homosexuality.

Biography

Behmer was born inWeimar,son of the painter Hermann Behmer and grandson of Friedrich Behmer,OberamtmannofMerzien(now part ofKötheninSaxony-Anhalt) and his wife Elise, youngest daughter of the poetPhilippine Engelhard.His father's twin brother Rudolf Behmer (1831–1902) was known as a breeder ofMerino sheep;their sister Louise was married to Heinrich von Nathusius (1824–1890). Marcus' brother Joachim Behmer was also an artist. Behmer, in a letter, dates his artistic beginnings to about 1896.

Marcus Behmer's grave inFriedhof Heerstraße,Berlin-Westend

On 1 October 1903, Behmer joined the army. He was made a corporal on 10 June 1904 and promoted on 22 September 1907 to sergeant. From 1914 he served inWorld War Iin Flanders and in Poland. In the summer of 1917 he fell seriously ill "after an operation in the field" and spent six weeks in thefield hospitalatJarnyin north-eastern France. During his time in the army, he produced many so-called "comrades' portraits", usually finely craftedminiatureprofile views of young soldiers.

In 1898 Behmer made the acquaintance ofKarl Walser,also an admirer of Aubrey Beardsley, with whom he remained friends for the rest of his life.He launched his career as a professional artist in 1900 and over the next three years contributed 66 drawings to the monthly magazineDie Insel(The Island ) forInsel Verlag,the satirical weeklySimplicissimus,and other Munich publications.From 1902 on Behmer created book illustrations, designed initials and texts and was responsible for carefully planned book productions, with the Cranach Press ofHarry Graf Kesslerand others. With Insel Verlag he had his first major success with his illustrations forWilde'sSalomein 1903. Behmer's early works show the strong influence of the illustrative art ofAubrey Beardsley,which later allowed some negative assessments of his work as imitative, though he soon developed his own artistic language parallel to the rise ofExpressionismand the new currents of theWiener Werkstätte.He also designed an internationally recognised work, the series of illustrations forPhilipp Otto Runge'sVon dem Fischer un syner Fru( "The Fisherman and His Wife").

Behmer also worked for other publishers, for example thePaul CassirerVerlag, which produced one of his major works, a series of 40 etchings created in 1912 for an edition ofVoltaire'sZadig.Like many artists of theBuchkunstbewegung,Behmer ran into financial difficulties in the 1920s, but he remained committed to what he called the "small format" instead of striving for a gallery-based artistic career as did others such asAlfred Kubin,to whom Behmer compared himself in later years.

In created his ownantiqua-styletypeface in the 1920's and cast it in cast in theKlingspor foundry,a building that has since become a museum and houses a large collection of Behmer's work.

Behmer was close friends with, among others, the family of the writerErnst Hardt,with the painterAlexander Olbrichtand also with the sculptor and painter Dorothea Werner (born Leiding) and her husband.

From 1903 he was a member in Berlin of theWhK(Wissenschaftlich-humanitäre Komitee),thefirst homosexual movementin the world.Behmer was arrested in December 1936 and convicted on charges of homosexuality by a court inKonstanz.He was sentenced to two years in prison and served 19 months in prisons inStockach,Konstanz andFreiburg im Breisgau,emerging in July 1938.In his prison diaries he accepted his punishment, rejecting the idea that God would punish him as the law had for sexual behavior but accepting it as divine punishment for his sins of pride and self-satisfaction. He wrote:

In order to be able to endure what God has decreed for me, I have to make this one thought clear to myself with the utmost strength, so that it is present to me every second, even the most dreadful and desperate one, as the very last: that nothing can happen to me which God does not send me.

At times he was given the opportunity to work as an artist in prison. The works produced in this period are mostly calligraphically designed panels ofGreektext (prayers and Bible quotations), as well as drawings full of bitterness and irony.

From 1943 Behmer lived at the family home of Donata Helmrich, the daughter of Ernst Hardt, in Berlin-Charlottenburg.He lost almost all of his possessions, including hundreds of drawings, graphics and printing plates, when theWestendneighborhood of Berlin was bombed in November 1944.He then went to live at Groẞ Nuhnen, the country estate of the Werner family nearFrankfurt an der Oder.The rest of his life was spent in poverty inWest Berlin,where Dorothea Werner took care of him in 1958 until his death.

Behmer died in Berlin at age 78, on 12 September 1958. He was buried in theHeerstraße Cemeteryin the present district ofBerlin-Westend.

TheSenate of Berlinordered in 1965 that Behmer's grave (plot 8-C-54) should be dedicated as anEhrengrab( "grave of honour" ) of theLand Berlin.The original dedication expired in 2011; the Senate renewed it in 2018 for the usual time period of 20 years.

Renowned museums and collections such as the graphics collection of theStädel Museumin Frankfurt, theKlingspor MuseumforcalligraphyandtypographyinOffenbachand the Sternweiler collection in Berlin today house works by Behmer. A critical appraisal of his work is only now being undertaken and his art-historical importance realized.

Selected works

Graphics

• Numerous bookplates, usually etched
• Various invitations and programme cards
• Numerous New Year's wishes sent to friends, mostly etchings, with both metaphorical and political motifs (including between 1931 and 1934 critical comments on the seizure of power by the National Socialists).
• Numerous erotic works, often etchings, with explicit and imaginative gay symbolism.
• Ten silhouettes by Marcus Behmer. A New Year's gift for the Friends of theKunstbibliothek,produced by W. Büxenstein. Berlin 1930.
• Ten-Mark banknote (using a silhouette) for thestate printer,1919.

Book illustrations

• Annemarie von Nathusius:Freie Worte.Eckstein, Berlin, 1902
• Oscar Wilde:Salome.Insel Verlag, Leipzig, 1903
• Honoré de Balzac:Das Mädchen mit den Goldaugen.German translation by Ernst Hardt. Insel Verlag, Leipzig, 1904
• Herman Bang:Excentrische Novellen.Illustrations and title pages by Behmer. Berlin, S. Fischer, 1905.
• Ernst Hardt:Ninon von Lenclos.Drama in one act. Insel Verlag, Leipzig, 1905
• Ernst Hardt:Tantris der Narr.Drama in 5 acts. Breitkopf & Härtel for Insel Verlag, Leipzig, 1907; book design as well.
• Voltaire:Zadig.IX. Work of the Pan Press, published by Paul Cassirer, Berlin, 1912
• Brothers Grimm:Sechs Märchen.Brandus, Berlin, 1918
• Ecclesiastes oder der Prediger Salomo.Holten, Berlin, 1920
• Von dem Fischer un syner Fru.Insel Verlag, Leipzig, 1920 (Insel-Bücherei Nr. 315), also handset by Behmer
• Euphorion Verlag:Verlagsbericht über das Gründungsjahr.With a title etching by Marcus Behmer and an original lithograph byHermann Struck.Berlin 1920
• Der Prophet Jona nach Luther.Insel Verlag, Leipzig, 1920–30, reprinted 1983: Insel-Bücherei Nr 1018/2
• Johannes Secundus(J.N. Everaerts):Basia.Officina Serpentis, Berlin, 1921
• Oscar Wilde:Die heilige Buhlerin.Berlin, Tillgner, 1921
• Enno Littmann:Vom morgenländischen Floh. Dichtung und Wahrheit über den Floh bei Hebräern, Syriern, Arabern, Abessiniern und Türken.With 13 original etchings. Insel Verlag, Leipzig, 1925

Binding designs

• Fontane, Theodor,Effi Briest,Berlin, Officina Serpentis, 1926-27; with illustrations byMax Liebermann.

Musical compositions / Songs based on poems

• Eduard Mörike:Denk' es o Seele!(Berlin, Birkholz, 1922; written in 1917 in the field hospital at Jarny)
• Paul Verlaine:Le ciel est, pardessus le toit...(Berlin, Birkholz, 1925)
• Emil Kuh:Hirschlein ging im Wald spazieren(after the children's song, set for voice and piano by Marcus Behmer). For the "19th", 22 July 1943 (privately printed for Konstantin [Greiff-Helmrich] in a very small edition)

Selected exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

• 2018 - (11 July – 2 September) Klingspor Museum, Offenbach am Main: "Delphine in Offenbach. Marcus Behmer. Meister der kleinen Formate" ( "Delphine in Offenbach. Marcus Behmer. Master of the small formats" ), for the 60th anniversary of Behmer's death
• 2009 (1 October) Galerie im Antiquariat Marcus Haucke, Berlin, for Behmer's 130th birthday
• 2008 (24 July – 2 September) - Galerie Buchholz, Berlin
• 2008 - "Täfele" ( "Panels" ). Antiquariat & Galerie Marcus Haucke, Berlin
• 2000 - Antiquariat & Galerie Marcus Haucke, Berlin
• 1979 - Stadtmuseum, Weimar
• 1979 - Stadtbibliothek, Berlin-Ost
• 1979 - Klingspor-Museum, Offenbach
• 1978 - Galerie Werner Kunze, Berlin
• 1978 - 1979 - Kunstkreis Novo Industrie, Mainz
• 1958 - Klingspor Museum, Offenbach
• 1958 - 1959 - Ehemals Staatliche Museen Berlin / Kunstbibliothek, Berlin
• 1956 - Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main
• 1954 - Kunstamt Charlottenburg, Berlin
• 1952 - "Arbeiten aus 50 Jahren" ( "Works of 50 Years" ), Horst Stobbe Bücherstube, München
• 1951 - Galerie Springer, Berlin
• 1950 - Galerie Rosen, Berlin
• 1947 - A. Wollbrück & Co. Buchhandlung und Antiquariat, Berlin
• 1927 - Kunstbibliothek, Berlin
• 1912 - "An exhibition of drawings, etchings and ex libris by Marcus Behmer", Berlin Photographic Company, New York
• 1910 - Exhibition in the studio of Alexander Olbricht, Weimar
• 1904 - "Marcus Behmer, Zeichnungen, Aquarelle, Holzschnitte" ( "Marcus Behmer, drawings, watercolours, woodcuts" ), Kunstverein, Jena

Group exhibitions

• 1997 – "Goodbye to Berlin. 100 Jahre Schwulenbewegung" ( "Goodbye to Berlin. 100 Years of the Gay Movement)".Schwules Museum,Berlin
• 1984 – "Eldorado", Berlin Museum, Berlin
• 1980 – "Der gekrümmte Horizont - Kunst in Berlin 1945-1967" ( "The Crooked Horizon - Art in Berlin 1945-1967", Academy of Arts, Berlin
• 1929 – "Das deutsche illustrierte Buch von 1880 bis 1929" ( "The German Illustrated Book from 1880 to 1929",Horst Stobbe Bücherstube,Munich
• 1909 – "Winterausstellung der Sezession" ( "Winter Exhibition of the Secession" )(graphics), Akademie der Künste, Berlin
• 1905 – "Alexander Olbricht, Marcus Behmer (Zeichnungen, Radierungen, Holzschnitte)" ( "Alexander Olbricht, Marcus Behmer: drawings, etchings, wooodcuts" ), Kunstverein, Jena
• 1903 – Secession, Berlin
• 1902 – "Vienna Secession 13th Exhibition", Vienna
• 1900 – "Vienna Secession 8th Exhibition", Vienna

References

Additional sources

• "Marcus Behmer".Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration(in German): 489–512. 1906.
• Max Deri: "Marcus Behmer – Berlin". In:Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration,Bd. 30, April 1912 – September 1912, pp. 415–423 (online version)
• Reichshandbuch der deutschen Gesellschaft – Das Handbuch der Persönlichkeiten in Wort und Bild.Erster Band, Deutscher Wirtschaftsverlag, Berlin 1930, Neuausgabe München o. J., Saur,ISBN3598306644
• Birnbaum, Martin,Marcus Behmer.New York 1912
  • Reprinted 2018, Forgotten Books,ISBN978-0366701520
• "Bucheinbände von Marcus Behmer". In:Stammtischblätter der Maximilian-Gesellschaft,Jg. 1927, pp. 53–87
• Vollmer,Künstlerlexikon,Vol. I, p. 155f.
• Halbey, Hans Adolf,Marcus Behmer als Illustrator./Handeinbände von Frieda Thiersch zu Drucken der Bremer Presse.Neu-Isenburg 1970 (with incomplete bibliography of works illustrated by Behmer)
• Hans Adolf Halbey, Richard von Sichowsky:Marcus Behmer in seinen Briefen als Buchgestalter, Illustrator und Schriftzeichner. Von der Typographie zum West-östlichen Divan, den Radierungen zur Ilsebill, den Holzschnitten zum Petronius und der Hebräischen Schrift.Verlag Hans Christians, Hamburg 1974
• Marcus Behmer: Exhibition catalogue and attempt at acatalogue raisonné.With texts by Marcus Behmer, Benno Meyer-Wehlack and others. Edited by Marcus Haucke. Berlin, Galerie im Antiquariat Haucke, 12 September 2000 to 14 February 2001.Octavo, with c. 95 illustrations, 80 pages. Card covers with illustration of bookbinder's stamp and portrait of MB.
• Peter Christian Hall:Delphine in Offenbach. Marcus Behmer. Meister der kleinen Formate,Klingspor Museum, Offenbach am Main 2018.
• Renate Müller Krumbach:"Marcus Behmer, Illustrator, Buchkünstler, Briefschreiber"In:Zeitschrift der Schweizerischen Bibliophilen-Gesellschaft,Bd. 47, 2004, pp. 66–78
• Renate Müller-Krumbach: "Marcus Behmer (1879-1958). Ouvre gravé – eigenhändiges Werkverzeichnis". In: Gesellschaft der Bibliophilen (ed.):Imprimatur: ein Jahrbuch für Bücherfreunde.N.F. 19. Harrassowitz, 2005, ISSN 0073-5620, pp. 289–307

External links

• List of the contents of Behmer's estate in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
• "Fabulous beast, 1900–58, Marcus Behmer German".Metropolitan Museum of Art.