“How Can I Hurt You?” The author revisits two irreverent portraits of physicians by the German Expressionist Otto Dix in order to learn more about the sitters who submitted to the painter's fiercely satirical vision. Oi er i ere porta in Germany during the 1920s, Sitting for 2 portrait by Dix required strong nerves, self confidence and, most importantly f humor, He liked to choose his own hen mercilessly expose their weaknesses on canvas. Despite his ruthless realism, a surprising number of prominent people wanted to be portrayed by him. Among those he turned down were the dramatist Gerhart Hauptmann and the German chancellor Hans Luther. His sharpest portraits are of artists, poets. daneers, prostitutes and the rest ofthe alt tering demimonde of the Weimar Republic ‘who didnot objet to being portrayed with an unflinching and brutal honesty Dis also painted a group of pictues of busi nessmen, lawyers, at dealers and doctors, often showing them with the attributes of their oceupations. Memorable among these Dr. Hans Kech, co 1835, Coureny Galerie BY SABINE REWALD alts of doctors, Hans Koch and Wilhelm Mayer Hermann, in which Dix subverts the conventional depiction of this honorable profession, Usually rendered as Good Iy hover near siekbeds or deathbeds,dispens are his two por umaritans, doctors in paintings typical Ingsolace and advice. Not so in Dix's 1921 por trait of the urologist Hans Koch, in whieh the doctor inspires fear and foreboding. Dr. Koch (1881-1952) was a specialist in bladder and kidney diseases in Dasseldorf Shown armed with a red rubber eatheter urniquet and an uplifted syringe he seems about to jam an injection into a patient positioned outside the picture frame (the viewer, perhaps). His examination room sleams with menacing medical equipment The high leather chair sprouts different st rups for gynecological and un nations. Continuing a wayward Berlin Dada practice of the previous year, when he had added collage elements to his antiwar paint ings," Dix applied silver foil spiky protruding metal tubes and serews, as well as the metal instruments that are arrayed on the las table tothe right are rendered with supply-catalogue exact ness: the tweezers with bloody cotton swab, the vaginal speculum with a heavy handle reaching over the edge, the needle and the long forceps used to grab kidney stones: Above Dr. Koch's right shoulder, similar instruments peek through a glass eabinet, on top of which rest two rubber bladders, Bottles filled with mysterious tinctures line the shelves in the background near two sus pended intravenous bottles filled with eal bred liquids. Under his open white physi cians coat, Dr. Kaeh wears a vest and pants in the knobby fabric fashionable at the time. His rolled-up sleeves bare the thick forearms ofa laborer. slighty mau! glint shines in his eyes behind pince-nez. Two reddish dueling sears, baiges of honor from his student days, sare prominently on his right cheek Galerie Remmert und Barth, Disseldor. Over the years, commentators have com pared Dr. Koch to a sorcerer, butcher and torturer in his chamber of horrors. A photo aph of him taken around 1935, however shows a mild and friendly looki Moreover, the urologist wore man hus. In literary cir diferent es he was known asthe author of expressionistic poems and novels, He was also a criti, an art dealer and an enlightened collector, whose early taste Teaned toward French art and who collected works by Viaminek, Braqu Laurenein.' His Ingres and use in Dusseldorf was a ion of domicile, doctors office and salon for artists and t literati, For two years, 1918 and 1919, Koch and his wife, Martha, operated a small gallery where they exhibited the works of Young local artists from the Rhine and Dresden regions. They ealled it *Das graphs che Kabinett von Bergh & Co,” using the Artin AmericaDr. Wiel Mayer Hermann, New Yor tate 1830 Phto Waller lrmer name ofa friend so that the enterprise would ‘not conflict with his medical practice. Dix had frst contacted Koch in 1920, whe the artist still lived in Dresden. That year ‘marked his debut as an enfant terrible, with four ferocious and macabre antiwar pictures of war eripples° These had brought Dix noto riety but no income, and at the end of the year he turned to portraiture and a more nat: turalistic approach. He also produced prints and sent four etchings to Koch, but had received no reply. Dix had learned about the octor/colleetor from his friend, the painter Conrad Felixmuller (1897-1977), The latter's 1919 portrait of Koch, in alate expressions. tie manner, shows the sitter in his role as ‘writer or poet, complete with pince-nez, sift collar and dark sult Though Dix's nearly caricatural portrait of Dr. Koch hints at gleeful cooperation between a “wicked” painter and a willing st ter, the latter's precise response tothe paint ing is unknown, In 1928 Koch sold the paint ing to the Cologne collector Josef Haubrich, who donated his 20th-century at, inluding this painting, to his native city in 1946. The portrait hangs there today in the Museum Ludwig, Meanwhile, Dix and Koch became friends! And, at the same time, Dic and Martha Koch hecame lovers, sharing, among other things, ‘passion for dancing. When Dix returned to Dresden at the end of 1921, Martha Koch fol Towed him, leaving her husband and two chil: dren behind. Koch remained unperturbed, however, because he had already begun an affair with his wife's older sister, Maria Lindner. Two new couples formed. Kiveh nul Dix became brothers inlaw, and the friend ship continued until Koch's death in 1952 112 Apt 2004 n 1925 Dix moved to Berlin, where, one year later, he painted his second chilling portrait of a doctor, Wilhelm Mayer-ermann (1890-1945), a prominent ear, nose and throat specialist, Unlike Dr. Koch, who is sur rounded by a multitude of threatening med. ical instruments, Dr. Mayer Hermann is sea ced In a sparse setting dominated by a fearsome apparatus. Above him, the large ‘metal sphere of a mechanism used for light ‘treatments mirrors the office.’ The sphere is attached to a machine of burnished metal, with a crank to raise and lower it, which is plugged into a black electrical outlet on the Tet. Also on the left hangs a case witha dil, probably for the timing of light dosages. From the lower left of the apparatus pro trades a long tube that is inserted into patients’ mouths In this picture Dix displays great technical virtuosity. Emulating the old masters, te used tempera and oll over gesso on wood, then cov tered the surface with transparent glaze Likewise, the distorted reflection in the metal sphere above the doctor's head evokes the feonvex mirror in Jan van Eyck’s Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife (1434), ‘hich reflects the room in which it is dept fd. Here, a ceiling fixture casts harsh light over the darkened window, the empty shelves, ‘vacant doorway Tooming on the right and an empty examination chair with a red light fac ing the doctor. Strapped to his forehead by a white headband, the physician's reflector catches that red light (which he would then use to p Into a patient's throat). Dix again applied silver foil, this time to the serews and clasps that affix the reflector tothe band, Wrapped tighly in his white cat, Dr. Mayer-Hermann has been com pared toa “white Buddha.” The port ly doctor's round face and hands find echoes in the eomposition’s many cireular shapes. His pear-shaped hhead, with its thick nose, narrow-set ‘and long-lashed eyes, sensuous ‘mouth and double chin, blends into sloping shoulders and curved arms, Dix made exhaustive studies for the portrait of Dr. Mayer-Hermann (we do not know if any were made for Dr, Koch). Between 1925 and 1926, he filled a smal sketchbook ‘with 18 drawings in whieh he played with the placement of those two dominant spheres, one white: smocked, one metal, in addition to making two large studies of the apparatus alone.” The lifesize car toon of the entire compasition was destroyed by fire." ‘stuttgart, Mayer-Hermann evidently possessed not only the necessary nerve and self-confidence to sit for Dix, but also the requisite humor to enjoy the brutal visual jokes made at Biey tte atts sctic apron to portraiture, it eomes as no surprise that photograph of Mayer Hermann, taken in the late 1980, shows him to be a handsome man. What is known about Mayer-Hermann? His obituary in the New York Times of June 14, 1045, reports: “Dr. William S. Mayer Hermann, of 55 Bast Géth Street, specialist in diseases of the eat, nose, and throat, whose patients included several Metropolitan Opera stars, died yesterday morning at Sydenham Hospital, Manhattan Avenue and 123rd Street, after a day's illness. He was 58 [sic] years old. Dr. Mayer-lermann, who came hire from Berlin in 1934, eaves two children, Ese [sic] and Claus"! Tt was my good fortune that Mayer Hermann’s daughter, Else, agreed to receive ime recently. Dr. Else Goldstein is a practicing ‘continued on page 145 ‘iW: Sindy forthe Poet of Dr, Mayerermanny 1826, pone om paper, 1 by 13 inches. Galeri Vlention, fonDix continued fom page 13 psychologist in Manhattan, Although she was ‘only 1 years old when her father died in 1945, she has vivid recollections of this “bon vivant” and ladies’ man. Else graciously shared some fof her memories, and they helped to outline the life ofthis unusual and flamboyant man. Her fathers given name was Wilhelm Mayer. He only later added Hermann, which was his ‘mother's maiden name. Dr. Mayer-Hermann was bor in Carlsbad, a spa in Bohemia, the youngest of five children. His father, Jacques Mayer, was a prosperous internist with offices in Berlin and Carlsbad. Mayer Hermann went to school in Berlin and, as hat his father and several of his siblings, studied medicine.” Tis father gave him the blue lapis lazuli ring that he wears on his right pinky—the only perso. al note in the portralt—after Mayer Hermann passed his medical exams. In Berlin, he won Tame for the treatment of the larynx, and singers and actors sought him out, Peter Lorre, who won notoriety playing a psycho- pathic child killer in Fritz Lang’ (1931), was among his patients. So was Dix. In 1927, Dr. Mayer-ermann married Thea ‘etkowski, one of his students and his junior by 13 years, with whom he had the two chil dren mentioned above. Being Jewish, Mayer. Hermann emigrated with his family from Nazi Germany to New York: He later became an American citizen and wanted to join the ‘Armed Forces to fight the Germans, but was told he was too old. After completing the obligatory medical internship for immigrants, Dr. Mayer-Hermann opened an office in Manhattan, frst at 47 E. 2nd St, and later o the lower floor of a brownstone at 55 B. 66th ‘St As in Berlin, this charismatic voea-cord specialist once again attracted stage, opera nd film performers. Among the “Metropolitan Opera stars” alluded to by the New York Times who flocked to his office were the soprano Lotte Lehmann and the conductor Bruno Walter. According to his children, the ‘waiting room resembled a ‘salon” and was filled with famous singers and movie stars whose autographed photographs lined the walls lse remembers her father taking her tothe Metropolitan Opera and to the Museum of Modern Art, where the portrait by Dix had hung on permanent view since Philip Johnson presented it to the museum in 1952, Indeed, Mayer-Hermann never owned the painting, It ‘was showin in a 1026 exhibition of Dix’ work at the Galerie Neumann Nierendorf in Berlin and illustrated in the accompanying cata- logue, Dix subsequently lent the portrait to ‘the exhibition “Modem German Painting and Sculpture,” organized by Alfred It. Bar, Jr. at the Museum of Modern Artin 1931, Philip ‘Johnson, then the director ofthe museums architecture department and a member of the tudvisory committee, purchased the portrait and gave it to MOMA the following year. During those museum visits, Dr. Mayer- ‘Hermann liked to linger infront of his portrait and also enjoyed listening to the derogatory ‘comments made by some of the visitors. Among those hs daughter recalls were “he Tooks ikea butcher!” and “I would never go to a doctor who looks like that.” Dr. Mayer Hermann agreed, and is said to have remarked: “I anyone recognized me from the picture, they would never come to me as a patient!” He evidently possessed not only the necessary nerve and self-confidence to sit for Dix, but also the requisite humor to enjoy the ‘brutal visual jokes made at his expense by Dix, then at the height of his most “clinical” New Objectivity site. For his part, Dix showed fine consistency in choosing unusually talented and bril liant individuals as models for two por. traits that skewer an ostensibly noble pro- fession, To a surprising degree, both of these genial and generous men shared a similar joie de vivee and—with the visual arts and poetry in Koch's ease, the vocal arts ‘and theater in Mayer-Hermann’s—ted rich lives beyond medicine, 1. Dix had sed siver paper on the mechanical Jaw replacement of oe of the the ele wa Wter in {he pling ta Player (Brin Namal) 2am tl to De. Lester Ser Pees an am, tose a that specials ir NewYork, or entiing {hese instruments Tals want to hank De. Stephan Didrich,euuor athe Museu Ladi, or gi me sees the ach le on tis pain 3 Dr. Koch was th ator, ming ater woes ofthe ‘exesiont novella Prt (Peta), and {healt of poe Mein Len gears Wage (5 Le ews Grn Pt), 1908 Teor matin on Dr. Koch taken frm the exemplary cas Inge ent oh eal elle, Das Graphisce ‘abit sn Bergh & On, teat by Peta Bath, plished ty the alr Remmet na arth in Dslr, 1 4 Koch aque these works om Ad lech (sit l00T, a ealectcturned dealer who opened his frst gallery in Dslr in Dobe 191 ter the ar Fehin Deane a ea at inertial German ‘iro aie Fae and Cut ar, with traces hs alien Beri Cale, Das ard Prank. Inia tx pated a porta of Feet in Bern, showing the der a aac gue srnded by Shtcing Cub tings hens te ak Tecmo the Norlin 5. Thee athe for vk al rm 1020, save: Marck Vendors (State, Staatssalere), Prager Strasse (Stagar, Gale er Sait) andthe above mented Ska Payor The fourth ant ox lr, Te War Crile ih Se Porras sh at he Daa Pa ln etin to mach contre Cafe in 157 by the ational Soils a nln yarns “Thteneate Arex at pst ested (Koch ai he atari pings Sloe 7 (dy the Gale er Sta, tute) al Sain 17 Dix liked to choose his own models and then mercilessly expose their weaknesses on canvas. His sharpest portraits are of prostitutes, poets and the rest of the demimonde of the Weimar Republic. (oo at, ath EL. The pings depiet aged fd grenqr mshaen posites wali in bre Ibo cent, 7. och retained In Dosseldot uni 1598 and then hovel te ingen, a sal own near Lake Constane Were he epee ater office and raed ls eat Eater wrtes have eu descr the isi foe aan ray ache Yam rtf to vere Shar, ference Ui othe Hil Clin ate New ok Acar Mii, for epg eo Leys teste an oD Fran, were met Ms Share fi See Uke Lorenz, to Dis: Das Were der ‘acmengen an Pst beaasgton a dr Oto ‘he Sing Vad, Wek, 208,10 08 88421 to NK 28 and NSk 2520 NS 25,2, pp 10 10 td, Na NSK2522 p08, LM thanks Ang Large, utr sian the parte of paling and seule at te Masa of Modern Art New or for allowing me access to the ‘cha fl he ating whieh ctl the cay ftom the ew York Time, ad fr being me to fn Mage eras ange, 12 Ee sndy showed ne hr Uther’: mariage ett ‘ate, tod P51, whch his mane teen ‘of Wiel Mae, lou tween 15 at 192 is Poscrghne and eteheads ead Ise the double fame. The late Information i fom Beate Picker, 4 ‘hubier ton a eater tltionshp and wow rio laters in Eek Ete gah with dct thesis ona gresogia ‘ope rcordng t Beate Peer. Eiger Hermann and his wife separated when they ned in New York. Ths Terhows became a peer Pruner ns hpi New ark Both che ed ‘thir mathe Ti Hisar! was behind his ar acaing hiss, Wilmer (as kwh as Claus Majer Herman, wart pyc Pri, re tarts ha the ro a th places Te The porta wa (0 Ply Jobsn tough he Intermediary of Nee Kant Fie Gallery, Dresen, and {he arta agent, B. (stael Ber) Neumann New At {lew York. in Age 1. Te New Yor Tones and {te Ne Fork Herd rune anounced dosn't {OMOM on S18, 182 Unde eye he ‘same sur bth described the mock asthe “et impor {ant osern German plting to be aie ty 2 New eek ream” 17. Telephone conversation with Wiliam Herma, Avg. 21, 20 orks by Oto Diz are incuded inthe exhibition "veadia and Metropolis: Masterworks rom the Nationalgateri Berlin” on view n Nev York the Ne Gti Mar 127 ‘ar Satie Reval carr of mer ar ae Maran Mawr of Artin New York Artin America 16Copyright of Art in America is the property of Brant Publications, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email atticles for individual use.