Paul Herrmann (aka Henri Heran)

German 1864-1940

Esteemed for his technical finesse in the graphic arts, Paul Herrmann did not enjoy the celebrity status of his friend and fellow printmaker Edvard Munch. Yet it is known that Herrmann was experimenting with combinations of lithograph and woodcut techniques in colour printing as early as 1896, much earlier than was Munch. Speculation has therefore been raised that it should be Herrmann that is given pioneer status in the field of the colour lithograph in which Munch is famed.

Herrmann took to signing his more colourful work—produced in the gaiety of Paris—with the French pseudonym Henri Heran. It was perhaps an attempt to shrug off the association with his homeland during a darkening period of austerity and uncertainty. A contributer to L’Estampe Moderne, Herrmann—or Heran—is remembered for his 1907 illustrations to Baudelaire’s Petits Poe’mes en Prose.

Herrmann’s surviving works are a testament to his excellent ability and the spirit of an age in which printmaking was taken to exciting new levels in technique and creativity.