Marcus Behmer (1879-1958) was born in Weimar, Germany and began painting at an early age under the direction of his father who was also a painter. He worked primarily as an illustrator and graphic artist and his early work was heavily influenced by the work of Aubrey Beardsley. He achieved his first success in 1903 when he illustrated Oscar Wilde’s Salome. He illustrated for the journals Die Insel, Simplicissimus and continued to do book illustrations until his death in Berlin.