Hans-Henning von Voigt

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Hans-Henning von Voigt , also Hans-Henning Baron von Voigt-Alastair , pseudonym Alastair , (born October 20, 1887 in Karlsruhe , † October 30, 1969 in Munich ) was a German artist, draftsman, illustrator, translator and writer.

Life

Childhood and youth

He was supposedly born on October 20, 1887 in Karlsruhe as the son of the later Prussian Lieutenant General Karl von Voigt (1841-1911) and his second wife Bertha Wutzer (1846-1913). There are rumors about his origins. Hans Werhahn, the artist's personal companion in his last 25 years, from his knowledge of the Voigt family's relatives, it seems improbable that he could have been the son of the future Prussian general. Rather, he assumes that - two years before the date of birth noted in his passport on October 20, 1887 - he was born the illegitimate son of King Edward VII of England and a Spanish singer of Russian-Jewish origin. Because of his insubordination, he was exchanged between the ages of 8 and 10 for an apparently similar-looking brother who was terminally ill. After the brother's death, Alastair took over his official identity, Hans Henning von Voigt. According to Alastair's own, non-verifiable accounts, he spent his childhood in a sect-like association in Scandinavia. The Norwegian researcher Fridtjof Nansen is said to have taught him music (piano and harp) and read to him.

Prewar years

He was first mentioned in Munich in 1907 under his stage name Alastair . In the 10 years before the First World War he led a busy, unsteady artistic life as a dancer, pianist, draftsman and illustrator with stays in Marburg, Bad Honnef, Munich, Wiesbaden, Bad Tölz, as well as in London, New York, Berlin and Paris. His rise in public in the German and English art world from 1910 onwards was brilliant, supported by his friend and "manager" Hans Hasso von Veltheim . His first exhibitions in Cologne and Düsseldorf (1910) were followed by exhibitions in Munich and Berlin (1911), in New York and Berlin (1912), London and Vienna (1913) as well as dance performances in London (1913) and Paris (1914). During his stay in Paris, Gabriele D'Annunzio introduced him to Parisian society, where he met the wealthy André Germain, among others . In 1912 the first contact was made with the London Beardsley publisher John Lane , in which his own art book projects ( Forty-three Drawings , published 1914) and book illustration assignments for the poem by Oscar Wilde (only published in 1920) were completed. At the beginning of the First World War , he went to Switzerland, where until 1920 he lived mainly in hotels in Zurich, Geneva, Lugano, Bern and Lausanne, among others, and resumed his relationship with André Germain, which took place in an alternating field of tension between separation and reconciliation and finally broke up in 1929.

Between the world wars

Even after the First World War, he remained true to his restless lifestyle. He initially spent two years in Switzerland, where he spent a long time in the Kurhaus Albisbrunn and with the writer Robert Faesi near Zollikon. Increasingly he returned on trips to Germany and France. He often stayed in Munich, lived there longer in the Lustheim garden palace in Schleissheim , lived in Regensburg, Versailles and Paris. At the beginning of the thirties he was seen longer in Switzerland, where he cultivated friendships with Edith Andreae , Walter Rathenau's sister , but also with Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker and others. From 1932 he lived again permanently in Germany, first in Freiburg, then in Berlin and Munich, where a friendship with the art historian Jakob Reisner began. The second half of the 1930s was characterized by even more frequent changes of his whereabouts: for years he commuted between staying in a hotel and staying with friends, among others in Schloss Berg (Canton Thurgau), in Hauterive Castle on Lake Neuchâtel, in Germany, Berlin, Leipzig, Freiburg, Munich and in Hochhausen Castle near Neckarelz.

During this time his drawing and writing activities intensified. Book illustrations for his own writings as well as illustrations for works by Émile Zola , Frank Wedekind , Barbey d'Aurevilly , Harry Crossby, EAPoe , Oscar Wilde , the Manon Lescaut des Abbé Prévost and Choderlos de Laclos were published . In addition, he sent exhibitions (Toronto 1921, New York 1925, Paris 1927, Brussels 1928) and published volumes of poetry (e.g. Das flammende Tal, Die Horen), poetry and prose transcriptions into German, e.g. by Émile Zola, Jean Cocteau , James Joyce , Théophile Gautier and on letters from Maria Stuart that he selected. Between 1936 and 1964, his drawing activities gradually came to a standstill.

In these and later years he cultivated more intensive friendships with women, for example with Olga Schnitzler, the former wife of Arthur Schnitzler , with Gertrud Countess von Helmstatt at Hochhausen Castle near Neckarelz, with Countess Harrach, in their town house, the Munich Pension Biederstein, he in a two-room suite with an attic studio. As he always did, he transformed his rooms into a salon with fabrics, flowers and fragrances.

War and post-war years

At the beginning of the Second World War , Voigt was 52 years old. He stayed in Germany during the entire war, where he stayed longer with the paper manufacturer couple Felix and Lilly Schoeller from the Felix Schoeller Group at Gut Sandfort near Osnabrück, as well as in Berlin, Freiburg and Munich. In 1942 he stayed longer in a hotel in the Black Forest (Gernbach). In 1944 he temporarily settled in Konstanz. Contacts with sympathizers of July 20 led to interrogations by the Gestapo.

In the post-war years he lived alternately in Bonn (1947/48), Neckarelz, Bad Nauheim and increasingly more often and longer in Munich at countless addresses. In the post-war period he also experienced a number of exhibitions in his later years, among others in Paris (1965) and Munich (1965, 1968), Hamburg (1969) and Baden-Baden (1969).

He died on October 30, 1969 and was buried on November 3, 1969 in the Munich forest cemetery.

Moritzburg

The property of his lifelong friend and benefactor Veltheim's estate in Ostrau near Halle was confiscated during the land reform. Veltheim's extensive art collection of early drawings by Alastair was then moved to Moritzburg in Halle, where it is kept to this day. It was shown there in full for the first time in 2004 and was supplemented by other, mostly later works from all over Germany.

Style and personality

The role of his childhood, which is reminiscent of a Kaspar Hauser fate, may have had an impact on his psychological development. He tried to hide and mystify his rootless fate, which he understood as the epitome of homelessness and which he sought to give exemplary expression in his art. Hence probably the restlessness of someone who is always in transit, hence his various pseudonyms, the repeated disguise of his identity up to the darkening of his origin, the hiding of himself in strange contrast to his aesthetic self-presentation. A "'a delicate, fragile-looking man", without a home, a homeless person - even in the language - he had a perfect command of at least four languages: English and French - from which he translated and which were most familiar to him, as well as German and Spanish. He didn't really have a native language.

Alastair's drawings - his real and outstanding art - do not deny their Art Nouveau origins , they have a lot in common with Beardsley's drawings . They are reminiscent of Japanese woodcuts and appear permeated with a love of perfection. What is striking in many of Alastair's works are the garments of the erotic figures he depicts and the distortion of perspective into a flat picture, apparently magically attracted to noble fabrics, silk, brocade, velvet, chiffon, furs and lace. He often prefers strong (large-scale) black and white contrasts, which is advantageous in view of the frequent reproduction technique for illustrations. It was characterized as the “brilliant pen-embroider”, who breathes points on paper with a fine pen and carefully covers surfaces with the most delicate black and white contrasting patterns. The often organic-looking ornaments and curved lines in his pictures are also typical. In terms of his stylistic means, he is characterized as a typical artist from the short epoch of the “ fin de siecle ” and the “ decadence ”.

Illustrations (drawings and graphics) in books

  • Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly : A Woman's Revenge. Nine illustrations, Vienna: Avalun-Verlag, 1924
  • Loïs Cendré (André Germain): Poemes pour Pâques . 7 illustrations, private print, Geneva, 1915
  • Prosper Mérimée : Carmen . Novella. 12 color illustrations, Zurich: Rascher & Co., 1920 * 43 drawings. London and New York: John Lane and Toronto: Bell and Cockburn, 1914
  • Harry Crosby : Red Skeletons . 9 illustrations, Paris: Editions Narcisse, 1927
  • Choderlos de Laclos : Les Liaisons Dangereuses . 7 illustrations ,. 2 Vol., Paris: The Black Sun Press, 1929/30 - American. Edition, William Godwin New York 1933
  • Walter Pater : Sebastian van Storck . With 8 drawings, Vienna: Avalun-Verlag, 1924
  • Walter Pater: Sebastian van Storck , transferred by Felix Hübel . 8 drawings (reprint of the Vienna edition 1924), Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Vienna: Propylypen-Verlag, 1974
  • Walter Pater: Sebastian van Storck . With 8 colored illustrations. Introduction by PG Konody, London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1924
  • Edgar Allan Poe : The Fall of the House of Usher . 5 illustrations, introduced by Arthur Symons, Paris: Edition Narcisse, 1928
  • Antoine François Prévost d'Exiles : Manon Lescaut . 11 illustrations, introduction by Arthur Symons, London: John Lane, The Bodley Head and New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1928
  • Frank Wedekind : Earth Spirit . 12 illustrations, Munich: Georg Müller Verlag, undated [1920]
  • Frank Wedekind: Pandora's box . 12 illustrations. Munich: Georg Müller Verlag, undated [1920]
  • Oscar Wilde : The Sphinx . Illustrated by Alastair. 11 illustrations, London: John Lane, The Bodley Head and New York: John Lane Company, 1920
  • Oscar Wilde: Salome . 9 illustrations, Paris: Les Editions G. Cres et Cie., 1922 and 1923, 1925, 1927
  • Oscar Wilde: L'Anniversaire de l'infante . 9 illustrations. Foreword Harry Crosby, Paris: The Black Sun Press, 1928 - Identical English. Edition: The Birthday of the Infanta , 1928
  • Fifty drawings. Introduction by Carl Van Vechten, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1925

Texts by Alastair in German-language publications

  • Poems, in: Der Weg , Munich, Heft 4 (April) 1919, p. 2 (Reprint: Nendeln / Liechtenstein: Kraus, 1969)
  • Poems, The Flaming Valley , Munich: Hyperionverlag 1920
  • The Metamorphoses of the Dandy, In: Styl. Leaves for Fashion and the Pleasant Things in Life , ed. from the Association of the German Fashion Industry e. V, Berlin: Verlag Otto v. Holten, Volume II (1923), double issue
  • Poems, in: Die Horen . Two-month books for art and poetry, ed. by Hanns Martin Elster and Wilhelm von Scholz, Berlin: Horen-Verlag , 3rd vol. (1927), pp. 21–24, vol. (1928/29), pp. 842–846 and pp. 857–869
  • Poems, in: Neue Schweizer Rundschau. Nouvelle Revue Suisse , Zurich: Verlag der Neue Schweizer Rundschau, XXIV. Volume of Knowledge and Life, Issue 12 (December 1931), pp. 943–946

Published translations into German

  • Jules Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly : The banned. [L'Ensorcelée] Lingua, Constance [1950]; again Matthes & Seitz, Berlin 2017 (complete translation)
  • Georges Bernanos : Johanna, heretic and saint. [Jeanne, relapse et sainte] Hegner, Leipzig 1934; Arche, Zurich 1949
  • Léon Bloy : The desperate one. [Le Désespéré] novel. Kerle, Heidelberg 1954
  • André Chamson : ... who didn't go with the others. [Roux, le bandit] Hoffmann & Campe, Hamburg 1949
  • André Chamson: Blossom under the snow. [La Neige et la fleur] Roman. German publishing company, Stuttgart 1953
  • Paul Claudel : Lord, teach us to pray. [Seigneur, apprenez-nous à prier] Kerle, Heidelberg 1955
  • Paul Claudel: Sword and Mirror. [L'épée et le miroir] Kerle, Heidelberg 1955
  • Jean Cocteau : Poems, in: Neue Schweizer Rundschau. Nouvelle Revue Suisse , 24th year of “Wissen und Leben,” issue 2, 1931
  • Henri Daniel-Rops : Bernhard von Clairvaux and his sons . Kerle, Heidelberg 1964
  • Luc Estang: What I believe. [Ce que je crois], Kerle, Heidelberg 1958
  • Théophile Gautier : The novel of the mummy. [Le Roman de la momie] Avalun 1925
  • Théophile Gautier: Avatar . Avalun 1925 (together with "Jettatura" again: Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt 1985, ISBN 3-518-37661-6 )
  • Théophile Gautier: Jettatura . Avalun 1925
  • Théophile Gautier: Mademoiselle de Maupin . Illustr. Karl Walser . Goverts, Stuttgart 1965
  • Sessue Kintaro Hayakawa: The Samurai's Son. The life of Sessue Hayakawa . Goverts, Stuttgart 1963
  • James Joyce : Chamber music . German Nachdichtung, in: Neue Schweizer Rundschau. Nouvelle Revue Suisse , Verlag der Neue Schweizer Rundschau, Zurich 1930
  • Jacques Madaule: The Drama of Albi. The crusade against the Albigensians and the fate of France. [Le Drame albigeois et le destin francais] Afterword Karl Rinderknecht. Transl. Alastair, Helene Henze. Walter, Olten 1964
  • Maxence van der Meersch: The little saint. [La petite Sainte Therese] Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1954
  • André Maurois : The soul weigher. A fantastic story. [Le Peseur d'âmes] Reclam's Universal Library , 7833. Reclam, Stuttgart 1956
  • Klemens Wenzel Lothar von Metternich : “Mind and heart allied.” Metternich's letters to Countess Lieven . Andermann, Vienna 1942
  • Gérard de Nerval : Poems, in: Die Horen. Bimonthly notebooks for art and poetry, ed. Hanns Martin Elster , Wilhelm von Scholz . Horen-Verlag, Berlin, 3rd year 1927, p. 23f.
  • Comtesse de Noailles: The innocent . Kurt Wolff, Munich 1926
  • Robert Louis Stevenson : Master Tales . Nachw. Richard Kraushaar. (Manesse Library of World Literature) Manesse, Zurich 1958
  • Robert Louis Stevenson: The Curious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. [The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde] (Manesse indigo) Manesse, Zurich 2001
  • Alfred de Vigny : Cinq-Mars . Roman [Cinq-Mars ou Une conjuration sous Louis XIII] Hoffmann & Campe, Hamburg 1948
  • Evelyn Waugh : Seed in the Storm. Life picture of Edmund Campion from the time of Elizabeth of England . Kösel & Pustet, Munich 1938
  • Oscar Wilde : The Portrait of Dorian Gray. [The Picture of Dorian Gray] novel. Lingua, Constance 1948
  • Hugh Ross Williamson: Carl and Cromwell. [Charles and Cromwell] Hoffmann & Campe, Hamburg 1948
  • Émile Zola : The Sin of the Abbé Mouret . [La Faute de l'abbé Mouret]. Kurt Wolff, Munich 1922
  • The unwavering help. Power and effect of prayer. [La Priée] (documents of religious experience) O. W Barth, Planegg 1957
  • Johanna, the virgin . Translated and edited from the Latin and French texts by Alastair. Barth, Munich-Planegg 1935; Rinn again, Munich 1956
  • Maria Stuart. “I beg, I demand, I confess!” The Queen's letters . With 4 picture plates and 1 family tree. Out. And transl. Hans Henning von Voigt. Introduction Werner Picht . Hüthig, Leipzig 1940 to 1943 (multiple editions). Again, with 3 plates and family tree: Steingrüben, Stuttgart 1961

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Exhibitions (retrospectives)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels , Adelige Häuser B. Volume XXI, Volume 108 of the complete series, CA Starke Verlag, Limburg (Lahn) 1995. After that he was by no means a “baron”.
  2. ↑ a b Hans Werhahn: Alastair. In: Engelhahn, IJ (Ed.): Alastair, Art as Destiny , Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts 2007
  3. ^ Ingeborg Schuldt-Britting: Sankt-Anna-Platz 10 , Memories of Georg Britting and his Munich Circle of Friends (1951–1964), Buchendorfer Verlag (today: Rimbaud-Verlag, Aachen), Munich 1999, ISBN 3-89086-590-9 . - Your statement of German-Irish descent Voigt probably does not correspond to the facts (?)
  4. ↑ Ines Janet Engelmann: Serving beauty - for the sake of the general public. In: Engelhahn, IJ (Ed.): Alastair, Kunst als Schicksal , Bayer. Academy of Fine Arts 2007
personal data
SURNAME Voigt, Hans-Henning von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Voigt-Alastair, Hans-Henning Baron von (pseudonym); Alastair (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German artist
DATE OF BIRTH October 20, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH Karlsruhe
DATE OF DEATH October 30, 1969
Place of death Munich