Genre scene

Josef Hegenbarth's composition shows an idyllic genre scene. A couple is lying in love on a vast meadow. The woman has her head thrown back and is listening to the sound of a flute played by a young man lying behind her. Behind the man's head, a few small flowers are in bloom. Beyond, the plain is empty, with only the outline of a village visible on the horizon line. The graphic was made in 1922 using crayon lithography and sepia-toned ink on handmade velin paper. It was published by the Gesellschaft für Vervielfältigende Kunst (Society for Graphic Arts) in Vienna in the annual portfolio of artistic publications (Jahresmappe) for 1922.Josef Hegenbarth was born in 1884 in Böhmisch Kamnitz (now Česká Kamenice) and died in 1962 in Dresden. He was a graphic artist, painter, illustrator and teacher. He began his education with his cousin, Emanuel Hegenbarth, an impressionist and head of the animal painting class at the Königlich-Sächsische Akademie der Bildenden Künste (Royal Saxon Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden). He continued his studies at the Academy as a disciple of Carl Banzer, Oskar Zwintscher and Gotthardt Kuehl. After his studies, between 1917 and 1919, he created prints in Prague. He was a member of August Brömse's art group Pilgrims, which later functioned as Prague Secession. In 1922, he established a studio in the Dresden suburb of Loschwitz. He was a member of the Dresdner Künstlervereinigung (Dresden Artists' Association), whose exhibitions he participated in until 1937 when his art was considered degenerate. From 1925 to 1936, he belonged to the Wiener Secession (Vienna Secession) group. From 1924 he collaborated with the magazine Die Jugend as an illustrator, and from 1925 he also illustrated the magazine Simplicissimus. After the war, he was the illustrator for the magazines Ulenspiegel and Der Simpl. He worked as a professor of the drawing class at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste (Higher School of Fine Arts) from 1946 to 1949 and gained recognition as one of the most highly regarded German graphic artists and illustrators of the 20th century. In 1954, he was awarded the National Prize of the GDR for outstanding artistic achievement.

Ewa Gwiazdowska