Background
He was born and died in Berlin.
He was born and died in Berlin.
He studied at the Royal Academy of Arts, and then after further studies in Paris with Gustave Boulanger and Jules-Joseph Lefebvre, toured Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Fenner-Behmer spent his career in Berlin. Fenner-Behmer specialized in portraits of elegant ladies and in erotic scenes. Some of his settings are in an oriental environment.
"Orientalism" refers to the Orient or East, in contrast to the Occident or West, and often, as seen by the West.
Many Western 19th-century artists specialized in "Oriental" subjects, often drawing on their travels to Western Asia, in the 19th century, especially in France. More open sensuality was seen as acceptable in the exotic Orient.
This imagery persisted in art into the early 20th century. In many of these works, they portrayed the Orient as exotic, colorful and sensual.
