Unlike the enigmatic Helga Bode, who was working in Berlin during the same period and producing drawings with a similar subject matter, we can be reasonably certain that Richard Hegemann was a real person, even though biographical information is sketchy and contradictory.

As far as can be ascertained, Hegemann grew up in Erfurt, and studied art in Berlin and Paris. In Berlin address books between 1925 and 1943 he is listed as an academic painter and sculptor and a professor of art. As well as being a painter of generic street scenes, he specialised in sports illustrations and cartoons, his work appearing in publications including Berliner Leben (Berlin Life) and Das Dampfboot (The Steamship) throughout the 1920s.

Hegemann also created many spanking art and fetish drawings, often using pseudonyms including A. Hegemann, A. Hegener and P. Rollmann, or  just the initials RH, a number of which were published as illustrations in German sexological publications including those of Ernst Schertel. You can read more about Schertel and his ideas about sex and nudity here.

We are very grateful to our Russian friend Yuri for researching and providing the images for this artist.