Curt Herrmann

Curt Herrmann studied at Carl Steffeck's studio in Berlin from 1873 and then at the Munich Academy in 1884/85. He started off as a portrait painter, first in Munich and then in Berlin, where he became a co-founder and dedicated member of the Berlin Secession and later the Deutsche Künstlerbund (Association of German Artists). Thanks to his friendship with Henry van de Velde, he met several French Neo-Impressionist painters, such as Paul Signac and Henri-Edmond Cross, whose works he began to collect. Based on these contacts and various exhibitions which he organised, Herrmann greatly helped to spread Neo-Impressionism in Germany. He and his friend Paul Baum were the first German artists to use a pointillist style. His subjects were mainly landscapes, still lifes and cityscapes.