This early 20th-century gouache by German artist, illustrator and interior designer, Ferdinand Götz (1870-1955) depicts a couple taking tea within a lavish interior. It was produced in 1909 for ‘Meggendorfer-Blätter’, a satirical magazine.
Known for his sharp suits and sporting a monocle, Götz would’ve cut quite a figure. Working primarily in Munich, he developed a reputation for his witty drawings and advanced taste in decor. He was exceedingly busy - designing sets for the theatre, interiors for hotels, and working for various magazines as a draughtsman and caricaturist.
His training was undertaken at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich under German-American artist Carl von Marr (1858-1936), who appears to have been a key influence. Von Marr excelled at drawing and his portraits carry a sense of spirit, which Götz replicated in his own.
Here, in this piece from 1909, two figures in costume are sitting rather pensively within a lavish interior. She wears a voluminous pink floral dress from the mid-19th century while his outfit is a little earlier. It’s a ‘lost in time’ vision, a deliberate fantasy. The room is tastefully decorated with various ornaments and features a bold colour scheme. His illustrative work often bordered on the surreal. In a cover piece for the magazine ‘Jugend’, a Pierrot staggers back, seemingly impaled by a peacock’s feather, while others look on from the shadows. It’s all rather sinister.
By the 1920s, he was predominantly known as an interior designer (although referred to as an architect). In a glowing review, a critic described the living spaces in his own home, in which “the main thing is a happy, almost flirtatious play with grace”. He also remarked on his aptitude for designing rooms for women: “Then the ladies' room, also from Götz's apartment. Nobody needed to be told that it was a ladies' room. Doesn't every part, as well as the union of all these parts, express that this is the kingdom of a woman.”
Over the course of a noteworthy career, his illustrations and paintings were shown at numerous exhibitions including the Munich Secession and the Glaspalast. Sadly, as an artist of Jewish descent, he was denaturalised in 1941 and his date of death remains unconfirmed. He probably died in Paris.
Signed/dated lower left and held within a contemporary frame. Glazed.
Learn more about Ferdinand Götz in our directory.
Medium: Gouache on card
Overall size: 22½” x 22” / 57cm x 56cm
Year of creation: 1909
Labels & Inscriptions: Stamped ‘Meggendorfer Blätter, München’ on the reverse under frame.
Provenance: Meggendorfer-Blätter, Germany / Private collection, Germany.
Condition: Assessed and approved by our conservator. Overall, it presents well.
Artist’s auction maximum: £5,283 for ‘Temptation of Saint Anthony (1901)’, Oil on canvas, Kunst & Auktionshaus Eva Aldag, Buxtehude, Germany, 1997 (lot 171).
Our reference: BRV1753
