Peter Behrens

Peter Behrens - Der Kuss (The Kiss)

Artist Biography:

 

Woodcut Composition dimensions: 27.2 x 21.6 cm (27.2 x 21.6 cm); sheet: 14 1/2 x 11 1/16" (36.8 x 28.1 cm) Publisher: Genossenschaft Pan GmbH, Berlin Printer: Dr. C. Wolf & Sohn, Munich Total edition: 1213 (artist's edition: 38, numbered, on Imperial Japan paper; deluxe edition: 75, numbered, on copperplate printing paper; general edition: 1100 on copperplate printing paper. copper; general edition: 1100 on copperplate printing paper) The copy referred to here is one of the latter. The work is usually purchased detached from the book where it was originally published. In this case it is included in its original publication. Iconic work; summit of German modernism (Jugendstil), European and Art Nouveau. Color woodcut, in 6 colors, on light brown machine paper. By Peter Behrens. 19,2 x 15,1 cm (image / printing block), 28 x 19,5 cm (sheet).de: Die Kunst. Monatshefte für freie und angewandte Kunst (Munich: Magazinpresse-Verlag 1900), vol. 2. The smaller of the two known versions of this color woodcut, published in 1900 as an original graphic supplement in the Munich magazine Die Kunst. The enlarged version was published by Pan in 1898. - Main graphic work by the artist and at the same time an incunabulum of Art Nouveau in Germany. Paper a little yellowed due to its age. Partially imperceptible stains on top and bottom edges. Good overall impression. Peter Behrens (1868 Hamburg - 1940 Berlin). German painter and graphic artist. Representative of German Art Nouveau. 1886-89 He studied at the art school in Karlsruhe and in Düsseldorf. In Munich he worked as a painter and book typesetter. 1893 Co-founder of the Munich Secession. 1900 Assigned to Darmstadt. 1903-07 Director of the Düsseldorf School of Arts and Crafts. Since 1907, advisory board of AEG Berlin. From 1922 professor and director of the School of Architecture at the Vienna Academy of Architecture. 1939 Master Studio for Architecture at the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin. Typographic inscription below: P. BEHRENS, MUNICH / ORIGINAL XYLOGRAPHY. PB monogram in printing block below. 19.2 x 15.1 cm (image / printing block), 28 x 19.5 cm (sheet). Peter Behrens German architect and designer (Hamburg, April 14, 1868 - Berlin, February 27, 1940). He was the one who coined the phrase "Less is more" erroneously attributed to Mies van der Rohe who was his assistant. Behrens was initially trained as an artist in painting and later became a pioneer of objective architecture and industrial design in architecture before World War I. He is best known as a co-founder of the Berlin School of Architecture. He is best known as a co-founder of the German Werkbund and for his extensive design work for AEG before World War I. He is considered the prototype ("prototype") of the German Werkbund. He is considered the prototype ("archetype") of the industrial designer and, at the same time, the inventor of corporate design, as he designed everything at AEG, from the letterhead to the products manufactured, such as electric kettles, to its factory buildings, in a uniform spirit. The architectural office he headed took on special importance because several architects who later became famous - among them Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier - had worked there almost simultaneously.