The final successful fling of Höppener’s career came in 1927–28. To celebrate his sixtieth birthday, the first complete exhibition of the works of Fidus was arranged, organised by a group including Jakob Feldner, Otto Kofahl, Arthur Ludwig, Arno Rentsch, Franz Schmidt, Magnus Weidemann and Edwin Wilhelmi. The exhibition was held in October of that year in the auditorium of the Handelshochschule in Berlin. At the same time the publishing house of St Georgs-Bund was renamed Fidus-Verlag, and a major catalogue of the artist’s work was produced, which you can see here. As well as reproductions and details of all his works to date, Fidusbilder includes prices for all the works in different formats, from large prints at upwards of 20 Mark to postcards at 25 Pfennig.

Here we show a selection of Fidus prints and drawings, clearly demonstrating his love of the natural naked body, the open air, and what he saw as the mystical connection between the two.