The Online Hermann-Paul Project

The Art Newspaper published a story entitled, “Size Matters: Why is the work getting bigger?” At the height of the mortgage bubble, art prices were hitting records highs but Georgina Adam was struck by something else: art was also increasing in size. When money was flowing and real estate was easy to acquire, the wealthiest collectors had veritable museums and the means to fill them. For these types of collectors size really did matter. It’s easier to fill excess space with very large items.

When the bubble collapsed in the fall of 2008, art prices contracted along with real estate. Collectors scaled back and size no longer carried a premium. Works shrank along with the economy. Collectors returned their focus on art that could fit in a residence. “Domestic-size art,” as Todd Levin, an art adviser labeled it.

Now big is a back, according to Ms. Adam. The global economy is far from robust but the wealthy are doing well. Many of them still have large spaces to fill:

Big works, however, are exactly what many of today’s alpha collectors want. With the growth of private museums, they have space to fill and the means to do so. They also want works with huge visual impact: contemporary art spaces, be they private or public, need to grip visitors, give them an “experience” and send them away thinking “wow!” Size is one way of achieving this.

As an art print collector, it’s hard to relate….

Several years ago I bought two etchings attributed to Hermann-Paul. They dated from the 1920s and differed dramatically from most of his work. Similar etchings with a “Paul Hermann” signature appear in museums and galleries with an attribution to René Georges Hermann-Paul (1864-1940). Since the style was so very different, I figured the artist wanted to compartmentalize them under an alias. It turns out, the artist did use an alias. It was Henri Héran.

That was the alias for Paul Herrmann, a German Symbolist artist who was born in Munich then emigrated to Paris. Herrmann changed his name to Henri Héran against the backdrop of international tensions. Like Hermann-Paul, his life years spanned from 1864 to 1940. It’s easy to see the source of confusion.

Over time, I’ve met some dealers who attributed these works to Hermann-Paul and others who were skeptical. The skeptics were right. But what about me and my Paul Herrmans?

The first rule of collecting is buy what you like and you won’t be disappointed. I like both pieces and my opinion of their aesthetic value remains unchanged. But what about their financial value? Funny thing. The dealers probably priced them based on auction records of Hermann-Paul’s lithographs. Most of this work is based on his magazine sketches and doesn’t command the prices of his fine arts. They sell for a few hundred dollars. Paul Herrmann’s etchings, on the other, fetch over five times what I paid for them.

Works by Paul Herrmann that were attributed to Hermann-Paul:
The Chess Players	The Serenade	Two Nymphs

A few months ago, I recieved an email about plates by Hermann-Paul. Since H-P was a graphic artist, I assumed the writer had lithographic plates. They are made of either metal or stone. While writer asked for more information, it was clear she cared about pricing. If she hoped her plates were valuable, then she was likely to be disappointed. Litho plates are very rare but they don’t hold much value. Afterall, who mounts one on their wall? They can be desired by printers who make reproductions from “lifetime” plates. Since Hermann-Paul doesn’t have strong repro market, these plates didn’t have much value. I was curious so I asked her to send me some pictures.

The photograph on the left came as a shock. “Oh, you mean dinner plates.” Stylistically, there was little doubt. The plate contained a drawing by Hermann-Paul which was consistent with his late 19th century work. My first impression was “meh.” The long rectangular building looked out of place on a round dinner plate. It was black and white and kind of drab. Still, I’m not a ceramics guy so what did I know? A mark on the back provided a clue, “Geo. Rourard Paris.”

I discovered that Rouard took over the gallery A la Paix shortly after the Great War. That meant this was very likely a late 19th century drawing placed on a post-war plate. I’m not familiar with late 19th Century copyright law but it opened the possibility that the work was done without the artist’s consent. Rourard may have placed a public domain drawing on a post-war plate. Still, I didn’t want to mislead this person. I forwared the images to a dealer familiar with Hermann-Paul’s work.

It turns out they are more common than I thought. These plates turn up on eBay from time to time. They were probably intended for the tourist market – the plates shown here were from the UK. It’s not clear if Hermann-Paul collaborated from with Rourard but it seems unlikely. By the post-war period, his attention was focused on fine arts. At any rate, they’re not worth much since Hermann-Paul collectors want paper and ceramics collectors aren’t very interested.