Sale: 532 / 19th Century Art, Dec. 10. 2022 in Munich Lot 324

 

324
Thomas Theodor Heine
Englands Traum in Südafrika, 1899.
Gouache, India ink and opaque white over pencil
Estimate:
€ 1,000 / $ 1,080
Sold:
€ 1,125 / $ 1,215

(incl. surcharge)
Englands Traum in Südafrika. 1899.
Gouache, India ink and opaque white over pencil.
Lower left monogrammed. Verso of the backing board with the sales label of Albert Langen/Simplicissimus, there inscribed with the artist's name, titled, numbered "120" and with the price. With another old label, numbered "120", titled, inscribed and with various numbers. On thin board, laid on backing board. 42 x 38 cm (16.5 x 14.9 in).
Original draft, published in Simplicissimus, vol. 4, issue 32, November 4, 1899, cover.

We are grateful to Prof. Dr. Thomas Raff, Munich, for his kind expert advice.

PROVENANCE: Company collection Air Berlin.
Private collection Northern Germany (acquired from the above).

This painted caricature was inspired by the renewed conflict between Great Britain, represented by Queen Victoria, and the Boer republics of South Africa, which are symbolically having their feathers plucked by England’s superior power. By the time the Simplicissimus issue with Heine’s title appeared, the British had suffered surprisingly high casualties in the war of independence which continued until 1902. Heine first began drawing in Munich, working as a caricaturist and illustrator for humorous and artistic-literary magazines, such as the “Fliegende Blätter” and “Pan”. When he met the publisher Albert Langen in 1895, the two joined forces and launched the political-satirical magazine “Simplicissimus” for which Heine created the famous red bulldog emblem. Heine published his drawings on political and social issues in “Simplicissimus”, combining elements of political caricature, artistic graphic design and illustration in his own individual style. Heine, whose commentary on contemporary events was expressed with a precise pencil rather than words, was certainly one of the most important and stylistically influential figures in the journalistic scene connected with the period’s characteristic journals and magazines and their significant artistic and socio-political aspirations. [KT]



324
Thomas Theodor Heine
Englands Traum in Südafrika, 1899.
Gouache, India ink and opaque white over pencil
Estimate:
€ 1,000 / $ 1,080
Sold:
€ 1,125 / $ 1,215

(incl. surcharge)