Paprikas Stilleben (Still Life with Red Peppers)

Martin Erich Philipp

German born artist Martin Ehrich Philipp also worked in the U.S. He is best known for his color woodcuts, particularly bird and floral subjects and appears to have had an active market in the United States.

Philipp's composition consists of two arts and crafts ceramic vases, the blue one with an arrangement of red peppers, set before a grayish fabric background onto which the subjects cast a mysterious shadow.

A prolific German woodcut artist, Philipp was greatly inspired by nature and in particular by birds. His work displays a particular fascination with the unique qualities of their communication, portraying them in various states of hierarchical exchange, with leaders, followers, and all the drama that ensues. He depicted humans through the same intimate lens, poking fun of idiosyncrasies of men and women with fondness.

Despite a seemingly prolific career, the life of graphic artist, painter, and printmaker Martin Erich Philipp was sparsely catalogued and little is known about his exhibitions or other professional or personal events. He was born in Zwickau, Germany in 1887 and showed an early gift for visual arts. He attended the Dresden Kunstgewerbeschule (Arts and Crafts School) from 1904 to 1907, with the intent of becoming a sculptor. However, he gravitated toward printmaking and took courses in woodcut and intaglio methods at the Kunstakademie from 1908 to 1913. He received a gold medal at the Leipzig Book Design and Graphics exhibition for a color woodcut almost immediately following graduation, and shortly thereafter began receiving commisions for illustrations.

Philipp's style was particularly influenced by the Jugendstil movement, Germany's Art Nouveau counterpart. He was known for his color woodcuts of animals, especially birds, and his intaglios of nudes and erotic ex libris's; additionally, he was an equally accomplished watercolorist whose studies for future woodcuts are as richly hued as the woodcuts themselves.

Philipp married printmaker Elsa (Else) Staps (1900-1989) in 1925 and two years later they had a daughter, though beyond this little is known of the two women. Philipp died in Dresden in 1978.