Hermann Fenner-Behmer's artistic style clearly shows the influence of Parisian salon painting, as he got to know it during a study visit to the studios of the "Pompier’s" Gustave Boulanger and Jules-Joseph Lefebvre. Such a painting is characterized by rich details that send the observer’s eye on a journey through the pictorial space, as well as by numerous materiality effects that evoke haptic experiences in perception. Marble, glass, blossoms and fine lace, as well as the sound of a voice evoked by what was then the latest technical achievement of the state-of-the-art telephone expand the visual perception with a sensory perception. Over time, Fenner-Behmer specialized in portraits of elegant women that reflect the lifestyle of the urban bourgeoisie. Often enriched with anecdotal-narrative elements, they show everyday scenes that appear highly artificial in pose and arrangement and thus distinguish themselves from the realism that was conquering salons and academies at the same time. His motifs require the highest level of skill, in which portrait, genre and still life must be mastered in equal measure. [KT]