Richard Simon (painter)

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Richard Simon (* 1898 in Munich ; † 1993 in Berlin ) was a German expressionist painter who appeared under the stage name Simmerl . His portrait can be seen on the poster for the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin .

Artistic work

Expressionist motifs, pictures with a milky mattness mixed into the oil paint with a lot of chalk. Scandinavian and southern landscapes, cityscapes of Paris, forests from the Märkisches Land, portraits of his friends; predominantly oil paint on cardboard or canvas; some red chalk and chalk drawings ; all works signed as "SIM". Simmerl worked in a studio in Berlin, near the Kurfürstendamm , which he acquired from Adele Sandrock . He painted there every day until 1991, when he was 93 years old. In 1991 Simmerl completed his last picture and in 1992 he sold it to a private collector, whom he addressed in his letter with "Dear E ..".

Simmerl's pictures clearly show the painter's development over the years: brightly shining yellow-green spring and summer colors changed to darker blue-green autumn tones.

Simmerl as a model for the poster for the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin

The Propaganda Committee for the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin commissioned the Hungarian press illustrator Theo Matejko to create one of the drafts for the official poster for the 1936 Olympic Games. He portrayed his best friend, Simmerl, as a full-body nude , holding a laurel wreath , the Brandenburg Gate with the rising sun behind him. The National Socialist authorities insisted that the masculinity of the model should be covered with a sash and cockade . A silver swastika should also adorn the cockade, which Simmerl - not socially acceptable; However, cited for historical truth - with the words "no swastika gets on my balls" categorically rejected. Matejko's draft was rejected; the graphic artist was allowed to keep the advance payment he had already received.

The basic idea and a large part of the design, however, were integrated into the final version of the poster by a team of graphic designers, which is now officially attributed to Franz Würbel, which "immortalized" Simmerl's face and part of his torso.

circle of friends

Simmerl was one of the many thousands of artists who made Berlin one of Europe's cultural strongholds in the “Golden Twenties” after the First World War. Throughout his life, Simmerl, along with Theo Matejko , the writers and poets Joachim Ringelnatz , Erich Kästner , and the theater and film actor Tilla Durieux , whom he portrayed, Adele Sandrock , Käthe Dorsch , Käthe Haack and Hans Söhnker were among his friends . The last 15-20 years of his life were closely connected with the opera singer (bass baritone) and university professor Josef Greindl , who died in 1993, the same year as his friend.

Simmerl's pictures, which he always called his “children”, hung in the apartments of Josef Greindl , Hans Söhnker and Käthe Haack. Simmerl only sold as many pictures as was necessary to make a modest living, which, however, added up to a considerable number over the course of his long life. Sometimes pictures by Simmerl are offered on the open art market.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Simmerl's obituary in the Berliner Morgenpost , July 4, 1993, shows his artist name, contrary to customary practice, written with an “m”. Simmerl himself signed his letters to his customers as "Simmerl" with a double m.
  2. ↑ a b Peter Auer: Where Adele Sandrock once lived: Under the roof with painter Simmerl , Berliner Morgenpost, October 29, 1978.
  3. ↑ Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung : He did not let the Nazis get near him ... October 20, 1991.
  4. ↑ See the official poster of the 1936 Summer Olympics
  5. ↑ Apparently Simmerl planned to portray Erich Kästner as well, because a private collection contains a. a. Simmerl's portrait sketch of the poet in blue-gray-brown tones on the back of his picture Dancer , which he painted in 1925. Kästner was in Berlin from 1926 to 1933; therefore Simmerl may have designed this portrait around 1930
  6. ↑ From a letter from Simmerl, dated May 10, 1979: "Dear E .., ... I hope that my child gives you joy and the like. that you treat it a little well. "
  7. ^ Leo Spik KG Archive 614
  8. ↑ Result list auction 614
personal data
SURNAME Simon, Richard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Simmerl (stage name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter
DATE OF BIRTH 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich
DATE OF DEATH 1993
Place of death Berlin