Deutscher Werkbund: the path to german modern standardization

 

The Deutscher Werkbund was founded in 1907 in Munich as a response to widely held worries that Germany's rapid modernization was coming at the cost of its national culture. It brought together professors, craftsmen, industrialists, fine artists, politicians and designers. 

The group’s main intellectual leaders were Hermann Muthesius and Henry van de Velde. 

werkbund exhibition, 1914, bruno taut, gas pavillion, 

Werkbund was greatly influenced by William Morris' Arts and Crafts movement which proposed that industrial crafts be revived as a combined effort between both designers and craftsmen. 

Yet, The Werkbund was primarily interested in the link between the artistic and the economic aspects of mass production. The Werkbund was against revivalism and believed that architecture should be a representation of the spirit of the age (zeitgeist).

Here we have a middle point: The Werkbund set out to produce architecture that utilized mass production while still utilizing craftsmanship.

The Werkbund saw the potential of mass production and wanted German designers to take advantage of it. 

1. It was believed that mechanized production was incompatible with ornamentation (see Adolf Loos' influence here) and that products should be simplified to their basic forms. To attempt to introduce its ideas, the Werkbund implemented a program of product certification.

factory building, office building, walter gropius, 1914 

2. There were two camps, and each had its issues, which is why Werkbund split into two different factions: 

The first, led by Muthesius, championed the most excellent possible use of standardization and mechanical mass production. 

Van de Velde headed the other faction and maintained the notions of individual artistic expression.

Muthesius' ideas won. 

¿Werkbund's motto? Vom Sofakissen zum Städtebau.

see how the mark of "symbolism" mutates between romanticism and modernism (gaugin, redon, munch)

what unites these different different marks is the emphasis on emotions, feelings, ideas, and subjectivity rather than realism. the work is personal and expresses the artist's own will to reveal truth. symbolists combined exotic, religious mysticism, the perverse, the erotic, and the decadent.

Gaugin goes for the exotic.

Symbolist subject matter is typically characterized by an interest in the occult, the morbid, the dream world, melancholy, evil, and death.

Redon goes for the bizarre.

Instead of the one-to-one, direct-relationship symbolism found in earlier forms of mainstream iconography, the Symbolist artists aimed more for nuance and suggestion in the personal, half-stated, and obscure references called for by their literary and musical counterparts.

symbolism provided a transition from Romanticism in the early part of the nineteenth century to modernism in the early part of the twentieth century.

Munch goes for the decadent,

In addition, the internationalism of Symbolism challenges the commonly held historical trajectory of modern art developed in France from Impressionism through Cubism.

expressionist graphic art

printmaking and drawing were integral to Expressionism on both practical and conceptual levels. 

why? prints and drawings were quicker and less expensive to produce.

woodcut was the ideal artistic vehicle. with a long tradition in european art, and so represented a return to an older, truer form of expression. 

Die Brücke artists strove to distance themselves from the traditional academic style of the time while manipulating traditional subject matter to their own end. undergoing a dramatic transformation at the hands of the Expressionists, portraiture became a depiction of the sitter's (and artist’s) inner psyche.

what do we get here? 

* exaggerations of features, gestures, and expressions, 

* formal distortion,

* emphasis on the physical attributes to provoke an emotional response,

* flatness,

*angularity,

* primitive,

* existential.

Bauhaus Manifesto: There is no essential difference between the artist and the craftsman.

There is no essential difference between the artist and the craftsman. The artist is an exalted craftsman. Proficiency in his craft is essential to every artist. Let us create a new guild of craftsmen, without the class distinctions which raise an arrogant barrier between craftsman and artist. Together let us conceive and create the new building of the future, which will embrace architecture and sculpture and painting in one unity and a million workers like the crystal symbol of a new faith.

twentieth century opens with a mix of innovation and persuasion

herbert bayer, poster for kandinsky's exhibition, bauhaus, 1926

1. innovation, because from here on, things get old fast and they are replaced for and by better things.

2. persuasion, because of the message, and the design. 

3. but we have a new development here: the design is the message!

keep this in mind:

"the design is the message," is a variation of a phrase "the medium is the message," coined by Marshall McLuhan that suggests that the form or channel of communication itself, rather than the content, profoundly impacts how we perceive and understand information, shaping our societies and consciousness. 

the medium through which we communicate is as important, if not more so, than the message it carries. 

what's the medium? the avant-garde!

we're in the 20th century. now the mark becomes an "ISM"

the "ISM" is a movement, 

a movement is a social thing where people share and defend creative forms,

these forms are presented over and over until they become socially accepted,

what is the role of design in all this? 

what is the Wiener Werkstätte?

Early on, the Viennese Workshop looked for a symbolization of modernity.

It initially emphasized the creation of the Gesamtkunstwerk, or "total work of art," that sought to create a unified aesthetic across an entire designed environment, though this effort eventually fragmented into a highly diverse set of fields, with less and less emphasis on architecture and large-scale interiors, largely due to the financial constraints of the group's clients.

maria likarz strauss

We get: 

1- rectangular patterns, 

2- modern abstraction, 

3- sans serif typeface, 

4- superb craftsmanship,

a very good site with important work.

Arts and craft manifesto (for ARH 346)

Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry, Detroit Institute of Arts, 1933

Painting, sculpture or performance art are no better than bookbinding, stucco ornament, hand hammering, dry set masonry, or violin making.-- Anonymous exploited craftsperson 

The do's and don'ts

Stop cannibalizing art. Be original. 

Don't try to be popular. You can't please everyone. 

Craft is the slow food of art. Bring craft back into your art. 

Don't explain your design. Good design doesn't need explaining.

Don't be sloppy. Whatever art you do, learn it thoroughly. 

Don't be a Mammon-sucker! If you hire someone to do artwork for you, credit them for the work.

Don't do art by just looking at art magazines. Imitation is a form of limitation.

Seek effect and affect. Appropriation is cheap.

Avoid Photoshop. Bring back your drawing skills!

What's your truest mark? YOU.

Bring more free-hand design! Trace your own experience of a process resembling its past development!

Go back to calligraphy! Free your hand and mind from the tedium of the mouse. 

Don't cheat. Achieving style is a slow process. 

Don't delegate any art/skill that you can master yourself.

Art doesn't comment. Stop making art to make comments about comments.

Art-making is community. Build community!

Stop mimicking Postmodern mimicking.

Good art is not political. It is political because it's good.

Don't cheat. Learn your craft from scratch. 

No shortcuts! 

arts and crafts dissemination effected the evolution of graphic and other disciplines throuout europe and the US

Elbert Hubbard was a charismatic and zealous American missionary who promoted social reform through common sense, honest work and entrepreneurialism. After visiting Morris on his deathbed he started a peculiar style of production: affordable lamps, chairs, and other household objects conceived and designed in the spirit of Morris' work. The Philistine boasted a subscriber base in the hundreds of thousands. This cover reveals an Arts and Crafts influence, but the magazine celebrated a folksy attitude (rather than studied, elaborated or refined pose).  

Gustav Klimt's first secessionist exhibition poster 1898 (and the sad story of "philosophy, medicine & jurisprudence"

Gustav Klimt is one of the most important and controversial artists from the early 20th century Viena.

now, why secession?

 medicine, detail, 1901

which is this,

medicine, the whole painting

then, 

jurisprudence, 1901

then, 

philosophy, 1901

the critics raged, and this was klimt's answer:

the goldfish, 1902

here a good video about klimt's life and times.

Peter Behrens a figure in between centuries

Behrens' The Kiss, a six color woodcut, controversial for its androgynous imagery (first reproduced in Pan magazine)

Peter Behrens is one of the most influential Twentieth-Century German designers. At the beginning of the century, he brought forth outstanding works in painting, architecture, graphic design and industrial design, which exerted a paramount influence in all these various fields, opening up uncharted territory for the generations to come.

He is viewed as the founder of modern objective industrial architecture and modern industrial design.

Behren's AEG Turbine Factory (1908-1909)

what's Behren's importance?

1. the factory building, with its steel-framed structure and large glass windows, is a landmark in the development of modern industrial architecture. 

2. AEG presents a new approach to corporate identity, where the company's image was carefully crafted through design, typography, and product aesthetics. 

3. behrens is often credited as one of the first industrial designers (he designed not only the factory but also AEG's trademark, products, like kettles and fans, and advertising materials. 

4. in a sense behrens's work at AEG demonstrated the potential for artists to contribute to industrial production, not just as decorators, but as integral parts of the design process, shaping products and corporate identity. 

5. he contributed the hexagonal trademark of the AEG, its catalogs, and its office stationery, products such as electric fans and street lamps, and retail shops and factories. 

added bonus: during this period Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Le Corbusier worked in his office!

here's a good video about AEG Turbine Factory.

it was not until the early twentieth century that designers purposely exploited and revealed new technical capabilities

richard harlfinger, 40th secession exhibition poster, 1912

 

what's unique about this design?

 

the expressionist "S" engulfs the lettering blocks within its rhythm. 

 

the letters are hand-drawn, the design overwhelms any individual expressive quality. 

 

the weight of the negative space is expertly calibrated to strike a compact pulsing balance. 

 

this is both about abstraction and geometry. 

 

the organic motifs of the nouveau era have been left behind. the search for a universal language of form has begun. 

the vienese secession purged viennese design of decorative excess

frank vacik, 1912

egon schiele, 1918

 

The Secession was in large part responsible for the meteoric rise to international fame of several of its members, including Gustav Klimt, Joseph Maria Olbrich, Koloman Moser, and Josef Hoffmann, who helped to a large extent put Austrian art back on the map during the first two decades of the 20th century and beyond.

koloman moser, tristan und isolde, 1919

 

The Vienna Secession's work is often referred to (during the years before World War I) as the Austrian version of Jugendstil, the German term for Art Nouveau. 

leopold stolba, design for ver sacrum, 1907

The decline of the movement happens around the early 1910s.

max kurzweill, dame in gelb, 1907

ernst störh, ver sacrum, 1901 

members of the Vienna Secession (1906) 

seated in big chair: Klimt, in front of Klimt, Moser; Störh with cap, reclining left: Carl Moll, man with hat and pipe: Leopold Stolba  

The magic of Marcello Dudovich

Born in 1878, was a lithographer and illustrator of advertising posters. He also became involved with the blossoming cinematographic industry. In 1900 he was awarded the gold medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris; in 1920 and 1922 he participated in the Biennale of Venice. 

Dudovich was one of the most acclaimed advertising poster artists of his time. (Above, Dudovich's Poster for Campari, 1901).

 

Check this wonderful Dudovich site.

what do we have here?

* intense red all over (the color of the amaro) hinting at strong emotions. 

* the two glasses, one over a handkerchief (hinting who drank from it). 

* Dudovich is giving us an intimate psychological moment of seduction.

Josef Hoffmann's amazing Stoclet Palace (1905-11)

Josef Hoffmann was a German architect whose work was important in the early development of modern European architecture. Let's discuss the Stoclet Palace.

The idea here is to go against the grain and create an asymmetrical compilation of rectangular blocks underlined by exaggerated lines and corners. 

Take a look at the opulent interior decoration:
 

here is an excellent site to discuss the construction details.

what do we have here? 

 * this is a suburban palace for Adolphe and Suzanne Stoclet to entertain the European artistic elite. 

* it mixes formality and informality, while keeping immense sophistication. 

* the overall facade is balanced bu asymmetrical, 

* the stepped stair tower with its attached sanctuary 

* bow windows and the port cochere. 

* facade covered with thin stone slab veneers with linear moldings, to accentuate planarity, 

* there's a bit of Mckintosh influence in the house, 

* inside we have the Klimt mural decorations!

this is early 20th century aristocratic bohemianism.

Jugend Magazine

Jugend Magazine was a cultural weekly publication. It soon became a style-setting icon that launched the German art nouveau movement, named Jugendstil after the magazine. Within its slim 20-page-or-less weekly format, Jugend published works on art and literature, reproducing paintings, drawings, and other fine artworks by up-and-coming young artists whom the editors favored.

Among them, Ernst Barlach (one of the great Jugendstil sculptors and illustrators), Julius Klinger (a German artist of Jewish descent who worked for Jugend from 1896 to 1903), Peter Behrens (a German architect who did a good deal of art for Jugend in the early years of the publication) and Hans Heinrich Christianson (well known as a graphic designer, painter, commercial artist, and decorative artist) amongst others. 

 

Though to the modern eye, the artwork seems vastly dissimilar in style, there were common elements throughout, and the style of art selected by the Jugend editors as a whole came to be known as Jugendstil. This style was distinct from the other arts and crafts movements in that it focused on Germanic themes and mythologies, reinforcing the unification of the German states. (ASTG)

Here's the link for Jugend Magazine.