?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
THOMAS THEODOR HEINE (1867-1948) SIMPLICISSIMUS. 1896. 321/4x231/2 inches. Condition B: minor tears in margins; losses in left corners. Paper. Thomas Heine, a genius caricaturist and designer was often referred to, with good reason, as "the German Lautrec." Along with the author Ludwig Thomas and the publisher Albert Langen, Heine help found the influential German satiric magazine Simplicissimus. Based on the French satiric magazines of the era (such as Gil Blas), Simplicissimus was a revolution in Germany where artistic censorship and Puritanism were prevalent. Its strength was in its visual impact, and the magazine relied far more on cartoons than other German magazines of the time. The magazine employed brilliant illustrators such as Olaf Gulbranson, Bruno Paul and Albert Weisgerber, and was an instant success. Heine designed the cover image for each issue. But as popular as the magazine was, it was not an easy job for Heine, who was constantly battling the censors and he was even sentenced to prison in 1898. When the Nazis came to power Heine emigrated to Oslo and eventually settled in Stockholm. In all, he designed four different posters to advertise the magazine. For this image Heine breaks through the prevailing sense of Bavarian Puritanism and succeeds in combining art, sin, sex and humor, a combination bound to excite new readership! Totally engrossed in his magazine the devil is paying no attention to his lovely abductee, or to the demeaning fact that she is using his tail as a paintbrush. Judging by her smile, not only does she seem to enjoy toying with the devil, but also seems rather pleased to be in his clutches. DFP III 1209, Reims 1109.
