Lot 6 | PETER BEHRENS (1868-1940) DEUTSCHE WERKBUND AUSSTELLUNG. 1914.
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35 1/2x25 1/2 inches. A. Molling, Berlin.
Condition B+: repaired tears and overpainting in margins.
Behrens was a key figure in the birth of German graphic design as a member of the Munich Secession and founder of the Darmstadt Kunstler Kolonie (1901). He was also a driving force in the founding of the Werkbund where industry and design came together. Behrens did work for Rathenau, the chairman of A.E.G., creating a complete graphic line for the company. The Werkbund exhibition in Cologne in 1914 was the showcase of what would become a worldwide example for industrial design. Behren's allegorical poster features a classical rendition of a man on horseback carrying a torch. Although a tenuous analogy can be made about the winds of change blowing the flame carried by the figure in the poster, the style of the image belied the modern, progressive nature of the event and the poster was widely criticized. It was replaced by a strict typographic poster by Ehmcke, making this an extremely rare and important poster. DFP III 95, Aynsley p. 68.
