Paul Herrmann was born in Germany and studied first under Max Ebersberger and later under Ferdinand Barth at the Royal School of Applied of Arts in Munich. In 1883 he enrolled in the Academy of the Fine Arts in Munich. He visited Chicago, New York and San Francisco in 1893- 1895 and worked there mainly as a portrait painter. He returned to Europe and stayed in Paris contributing lithographs to some of the leading Art journals of the day including Le Estampe Moderne and Le Centaure among others. Whilst in Paris he changed his name to Henri Heran so as not to be confused with artist Herman-Paul and became friends with Oscar Wilde and Eduard Munch and other noted artists and writers. On his return to Germany he became a member of the Association of Berlin Artists and a member of the Munich Secession.