Graphic Design: A New History [2 ed.] 0300172605, 9780300172607

Table of contents :
Front Cover
The Origins of Type and Typography Cover Page
The Origins of Type and Typography Introduction
Graphic Design A New History 2nd Edition Ch. 1
Graphic Design A New History 2nd Edition Ch. 2
Graphic Design A New History 2nd Edition Ch. 3
Graphic Design A New History 2nd Edition Ch. 4
Graphic Design A New History 2nd Edition Ch. 5
Graphic Design A New History 2nd Edition Ch. 6
Graphic Design A New History 2nd Edition Ch. 7
Graphic Design A New History 2nd Edition Ch. 8
Graphic Design A New History 2nd Edition Ch. 9
Graphic Design A New History 2nd Edition Ch. 10
Conclusion
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
Picture Credits
Author Notes/Book Information
Back Cover

Citation preview

Second Edition

Stephen

J. Eskilson

Graphic Design: A New History Second Edition Stephen

1· Eskilson

Now in its second edition, this wide-ranging, innovative look at the history of graphic design explores its evolution from the nineteenth century to the present day. Organized chronologically, the book illuminates the dynamic relationship between design and manufacturing, as well as the influence of technology, social change, and commercial forces on the course of design history. More than 550 illustrations throughout the volume provide a visual record of over one hundred years of creative achievement in the field . As author Stephen J. Eskilson demonstrates, a new era began for design arts under the influence of Victorian reformers. Fueled by popular Art Nouveau advertising, the work of graphic designers soon became central to the growing consumer goods economy. Eskilson traces the subsequent emergence of modernist design styles in the early twentieth century, and then examines the wartime politicization of regional styles through American government patronage and revolutionary Soviet ideas. Richly contextualized chapters chronicle the history of the Bauhaus and the rise of the International Style in the 1950s and '60s, and the postmodern movement of the 1970s and '80s. The book's final chapter looks at the most current trends in graphic design, with in-depth discussions of grunge, comic book, and graffiti aesthetics; historicism and appropriation; the influence of technology, web design, motion graphics; and the work of leading contemporary designers and firms. The second edition features over 80 new images, revised text throughout, a new chapter.on nineteenth-century design, and significantly expanded sections on critical topics including the Swiss Style, Postmodernism, and contemporary design. An excellent and authoritative history of graphic design, this remarkable book is an essential reference for students, practicing designers, and graphic design enthusiasts.

RAPHIC DE I G N E TORY SECOND EDITION

Graphic Design A New History SECOND EDITION

Stephen]. Eskilson

Yale University Press

·

Published in North America by Yale Unive rsity Press 302 Temple Street P.O. Box 209040 New Haven, Connecticut 06520-9040 www.yalebooks .com Copyright© 2007, 201 2 Laurence King Publishing All rights reserved . This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S Copyright Law and except by review ers for the public press), w ithout w ri tten permission from the publishers. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Eskilson, Stephen J., 1964Graphic design : a new history / Stephen J . Eskilson. - 2nd ed . p. cm . Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN : 978-0-300-17260-7 (cloth : alk . paper) 1. Graphic arts-History. 2. Commercial art- History. I. 'Title . NC998.E85 2011 76D-dc23 2011025963 10987654321 A catalogue record for this book is available from the Briti sh Library. The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources . This book was designed and produced for Yale University Press by:

.,.__...., Laurence King Publish ing 4th Floor, 36 1-373 City Road London EC 1V 1LR, England www.laurenceking.com Designer: Rose-Innes Associates Project editor: Johanna Stephenson Picture researcher: Amanda Ru ssell Printed in China

From cover: W oodbloc ' typeface created by Pentagram . Back cover. W ill H. Bradley, The Chap Book, Thanksgiving no., 1895. Poster. Color lithograph. Library o Congress Washing ton, DC Fronr,sp,ece· Herbert Spencer, Typograph1Cl! no t , new series Cover. June, 1960 Cary Graphic s Arts Collecnon, RIT Graph,c Design Arch1 es, aHace L1hrary, R0 .hester 1nst1tute o f Technology

Contents Preface 10

Introduction: The Origins of Type and Typography 12 From Gutenberg to Bodoni 15

1 The Nineteenth Century: An Expanding Field 24

The United States 70

The Industrial Revolution and the Rise of Urban Mass Culture 28

Harper's and Japanese Prints 71 The Portrayal of Young Women 72 Will H. Bradley 75

New Technologies 29 Photography 30

England 75

European Newspapers and the Law 32

New Design Theories 33 The Popular Book and Print 38 Mass-market Advertising: The Broadsheet and the Poster 39 Nineteenth-century Type 45 Typesetting and Competition 47 Advertising Agencies 50 William Morris 50

The Arts and Crafts Movement SO

English An Nouveau 76 Arthur Liberty and Liberty's 76 Aubrey Beardsley 77 The Beggarstaff Brothers 80

Art Nouveau in Scotland, Austria, and Germany 80

Glasgow, The Four 82 The Glasgow School of An, Celtic Revival 82 Celtic Manuscripts and The Four 83

William Morris's Kelmscott Press 51

Charles Rennie Mackintosh 84

The Advent of Graphic Design 53

Vienna Secession 86

2 Art Nouveau: A New Style for a New Culture 54 French Art Nouveau 59 Jules Cheret 5 9 Leonetto Cappiello 61 Japanese Prints 62

Alphonse Mucha 63 Sensuality and Symbolism 65 Absinthe, the Green Fairy 67

Theophile Steinlen 67 Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec 68

Gustav Klimt 86 The Secession Building 87 Ver Sacrum 88

Wiener Werkstatte 90 Werkstatte Style 90 Austrian Expressionism: Oskar Kokoschka, Egon Schiele 92

Art Nouveau in Germany 95 Pan and]ugendMagazines 95 Blackletter 97 Simplicissimus Magazine 99 Henry van de Velde 99 Peter Behrens 102 Behrens and AEG 102

3 Sachplakat, The First World War, and Dada 106 Sachplak,at in Germany 108 Lucian Bernhard and the Priester Breakthrough 108 The Sachplakat Phenomenon 111 Ludwig Hohlwein 112 Posters and Typography 114

The First World War 116 Wartime Propaganda 116 Emasculating Messages 118 Canadian War Posters 120

The United States 120 War Posters and James Montgomery Flagg 121 Uncle Sam, an American Icon 122

Howard Chandler Christy 123

Vonicism 157 Book Design in Britain 160

Purism 161 The Machine Aesthetic 161 The New Spirit 162

Art Deco in France and Britain 163 Poster An: Cassandre and Carlu 164 Art Deco in Asia 166

The Normandie 166 An Deco Type Design 169 Bookbinding 171

Art Deco and Colonialism 172 The 1931 International Colonial Exposition 173

France 125 The Central Powers 126

5 Revolutions in Design 17 6

Realism versus Abstraction 12 8

De Stijl 179 Dada 129 Tristan Tzara 131 Dada in Paris 133 Dada in Berlin 135 Kun Schwitters and Merz 138

4 Modern An, Modern Graphic Design 140

Seeking Universal Harmony 179 Typography and Journal Design 180 De Stijl Redesigned 181 De Stijl Architecture 182 De Stijl Poster Design 183 De Stijl and Dada 184

Revolution in Russia 186 The Russian Revolution and the Bolshevik Poster 187 Alexander Apsit, Boris Zvorykin, Dmitri Moor 187

Montpamasse 142

Lubki and Religious Icons 189

Cubism 143

Russian Suprematism and Constructivism 190

Guillaume Apollinaire's Calligrammes 144 Robert and Sonia Terk Delaunay 145

Kasimir Malevich, Vladimir Tadio 192

The London Underground 146 Frank Pick 146

Edward McKnight Kauffer 148 Signage and Visual Identity 149

Futurism 153 "Words in Freedom" 154

Lamba 154

A New Utopia 193 Constructivism and Alexander Rodchenko 195 Alexander Rodchenko, Vladimir Mayakovsky 195 Photomontage and Film 196 Filmic Vision 198 Gustav Klutsis 199 Constructivists under Stalin 201 Film Posters: The Stenbergs 201 El Llssitzky 204 El Lissitzky in Germany 204

6 The Bauhaus and the New Typograp Dada and Russian Constructivism 212 German Expressionism 213 Expressionist Film 213 Metropolis 214 The Arbeitsrat fur Kunst 215 Weimar Bauhaus 216 Expressionism at the Bauhaus 216 Constructivism and the Bauhaus 219 Laszlo Moholy-Nagy 219 Women at the Bauhaus 220

The 1923 Exhibition 220 Political Problems 224

Dessau Bauhaus 225 New Buildings 225 Herbert Bayer 226 Typophoto 228 Depoliticization at the Bauhaus 229 Type at the Bauhaus 230 Paul Renner and Futura 232 The New Typography 233 Die neue Typographie 233

Ring Neue Werbegestalter 237

7 American Modern and the Second World War 240 The American Magazine 243 Fortune 243 Mehemed Agha and Vanity Fair 24 7 Conde Nast, Vogue, and Fashion Photography 247

Cipe Pineles 248 Alexey Brodovitch 250 PM Magazine 251

Government Patrons 253 The Great Depression 253 FAP Posters 253 Lester Beall 256

The Museum of Modern Art 259

8 The Triumph of the International Style 284 Swiss Style 288 Jan Tschichold 288 The Predominance of Akzidenz Grotesk 290 New Typefaces 290 The Swiss Style in Zurich 291 Neue Grafik 294 Design in Basel 294 The Spread of the Swiss Style 297 The International Style and Corporate Identity at Ulm 298

The International Style 259 The "Machine Art" Exhibition 261 The "Cubism and Abstract Art" Exhibition 263

The Netherlands 299

T he "Bauhaus 1919-1928" Exhibition 264

England 301

Pulp Magazines 264 Germany in the 1930s 265

Stanley Morison 301 Jan Tschichold at Penguin 301 Herbert Spencer 303 Alan Fletcher 303

The Nazis and the Mass Media 266

American Innovators 304

"Degenerate An" 2 71 Typography under the N azis 273 John Heanfield's Photomontages 275

Alvin Lustig 304 Saul Bass 305

The Second World War 275

· 306 The International Style Comes to Amenca

Germany 2 76

Container Corporation of America 307

Britain 277

Paul Rand 309 Bauhaus Masters at American Universities 309

Russia 279 The United States 281

The Breakthrough: Paul Rand and IBM 31O

Norman Rockwell 283

Unimark International 312 The Golden Age of Logos 315

. Architecture 315 The International Style in Corporate The Tilted "E" 31 9

10 Contemporary Graphic Design 370 Eclectic Experiments 372

9 Postmodernism, the Return of Expression 320 Postmodernism 324 Psychedelic and Rock Graphics 324 British Psychedelics 327 Magazine and Album Design 328

Push Pin Studio 330 Postmodern Graphic Design 335 Historical Consciousness 336 Detournement 3 3 9 Postmodern Typography 342 Robert Venturi and Learning from Las Vegas 344 Wolfgang Weingart 345 Dan Friedman and April Greiman 348 Early Desktop Publishing 349 Cranbrook Academy of Art 350 The Postmodern Book and Richard Eckersley 350

"Grunge" Design 372 Depoliticized Design 3 7 5 Celebrification 3 7 6 Eclecticism, Historicism, and Appropriation 376 Conceptual Design 380 MTV, Coopting the Counterculture 384 Comics, Manga, Video Games, and Anime 385 Graffiti and Street Art 388 Illustration in a Digital Age 389

The Digital Aesthetic 391 Resurgent Idealism 391 Wired Magazine 3 91 Techno Type 391 Web 1.0: Beginnings 396 Web 2.0: Motion and Interactivity 397 Viral Advertising 404

Advertising Transformed 405

Motion Graphics for Film and Television 405 Contemporary Typography 411 Digital Crystal Goblets 411 Hoefler & Frere-Jones 414 Arial and Comic Sans 415

Tibor Kalman 355

Experimental Type 415 The End of Type (?) 417 The Danger of the Digital 418

Postmodern Architecture 357

Global Graphics? 419

Digital Typography 358

Design It Yourself 423

Emigre Graphics 358 Digital Typefaces and Zuzana Licko 359

The "Citizen Designer" 425

The Netherlands and Britain 354

Sustainability 425

Postmodernism of Resistance 362

Bruce Mau and Massive Change 426 Jonathan Barnbrook 429

Continuing Conflict 369 Conclusion 431 Glossary 432 Bibliography 439 Index 447 Picture Credits 463

Preface

This book emerged in the context of the radical changes that have revolutionized graphic design over the last few years. Digital technology, which had already substantially influenced the field for two decades, has transformed the way in which many designers conceive of and execute their work. Newly established branches of graphic design such as motion graphics and the demand for highly interactive web-based media have spurred a reevaluation of aesthetic principles that had previously gone unquestioned. At the same time, designers have had to cope with an almost constant state of flux in the advertising industry, while at times balancing their commercial work with a broader commitment to shape society in a positive way. These significant developments are discussed at length in Chapter 10. Each year, more scholars of the history of art and design devote themselves to interpreting and evaluating the myriad social and aesthetic implications of graphic design. This greater awareness has spawned numerous books grappling with key figures and defining moments in design history. Considering these developments along with the recent transformation in studio practice, it seemed that the time was ripe for a book that would attempt an overall assessment of the history of graphic design, taking into account this significant new scholarship. It is my hope that this book will provide a sounding board for scholars and students of graphic design who are as devoted to this subject as I am. It is my belief that graphic design history has too often been presented through a parade of styles and individual achievements devoid of significant social context, and that this tendency has obscured much of the richness and complexity of its development. In contrast, this book is predicated on the idea that graphic design and typography are the most communal of art forms, and I strive to show how deeply they are embedded in the fabric of society in every era. The impact of political movements, economics, military history, nationalism, colonialism, and gender, as well as other germane topics, are treated continually across the breadth of the book. Another important focus of the book is upon the changing roles of graphic designers, an eclectic group of artists whose exact professional status has often been fluid and indeterminate, a situation that persists to this day. A consistent theme in this book is the aesthetic commonality of graphic design with architecture and other design practices, a factor that arose as part of the late nineteenth-century quest for a unified style, in both a visual and an ideological sense. T he introduction and ten chapters are organized in a chronological fashion, although there is some overlap with certain topics spanning more than one: chapter. For example, several (Chapters 4, 5, 6 , and 7) must be read together to achieve a thorough understanding of graphic design in the seminal period of development between the First and Second ~orld Wars. Al.so, certain influential movements such as Dadaism ar~ threaded th roughout m ul tiple chapters (Chapters 3, 5, and 6) m

an attempt to clarify the web of connections between its man disparate manifestations. The minor difficulties in navigatin y these disjunctions should be outweighed by the benefits of g . . greater depth m the narrative.

New to this Edition This second edition represents much more than the sum of cosmetic changes and factual corrections (crucial as those are). Rather, the publishers generously allowed me to revisit the image selections and include upwards of 75 new works. New images allowed me, in turn, to restructure and expand key pans of the text; for example, there is now a stand-alone chapter on nineteenth-century design, and considerably expanded treatment of the Swiss Style, Postmodernism and contemporary.

Chapter Summaries The introduction traces the history of classical typography from the time of the Renaissance, introducing some key concepts about type along the way. Chapter 1, new for this second edition, examines how nineteenth-century industrialization and the concomitant role of mass communication transformed the visual culture of Europe and the United States. Chapter 2 traces the revolt against Victorian aesthetics initiated by the Arts and Crafts movement in the late nineteenth century, and tracks the flowering of Art Nouveau in France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Austria, and Germany. Chapter 3 recounts the decline of Art Nouveau in the face of the pioneering Sachplaktit style that arose in Germany before the First World War, and then shifts gears, tracking two important trends closely tied to that war: propaganda posters and Dada experiments of the 191 Os. In Chapter 4 the focus shifts to the links that were generated between graphic design and emerging modernist art movements, especially Cubism, Futurism, Vorticism, and Purism. The chapter concludes with a thorough consideration of how these · style influences coalesced to help form the commerc1'al des1gn now known as Art Deco. Chapter 5 traces the pivotal role that artists of Dutch De Stijl and Russian Conscructivism played in formulating a geometric abstract style that would have longstanding and unforeseen consequences for the history 0 ~ . graphic design. In Chapter 6 we consider the complicated ~ngins of the Bauhaus and the New Typography in Germany dunng the 1920s, which set the stage for Constructivist precepts to_ subsequently spread across the rest ~f Eur~pe._Chapter 7 shifts the focus back to the United States, mvesuganng the gradual adoption of Art Deco and Conscructivist technjques, the latter promoted in the 1930s mainly by the Museum of Modern An in New York City. T his chapter also delves into the reemergence

11

of strident propaganda in Germany under the National Socialist regime, concluding with propaganda produced by the adversaries in the Second World War. Chapter 8, now expanded, traces the triumph of the International Style through which European and American graphic design was swept up in a newly reinterpreted version of Constructivist aesthetics. In Chapter 9 we explore the first wave of resistance to the International Style that developed in the 1960s, which eventually coalesced into the group of styles and ideologies that formed Postmodernism. In this second edition, Chapter 9 now gives a more complete accounting of the theoretical and ideological underpinnings of Postmodernism. Chapter 10, the last and longest chapter, examines contemporary developments in graphic design and typography, finding much both to celebrate and to question in recent years. With the addition of over thiny new images, Chapter 10 closes with a completely up-to-date survey of the wealth of aesthetic, conceptual, and technical developments-from motion graphics to the citizen designer-of the past several years.

United Kingdom Graham Twemlow of the London College of Communication and the Surrey Institute of Art and Design, and Ian Waites of the University of Lincoln, both provided astute comments for which I am grateful. Additionally, the second edition was greatly improved by the insights provided by reviewers. In the UK: Charlotte Gould, The University of Salford; Paul Linnell, De Montfon University; and Graham Twemlow (thanks again). In the US: John T. Drew, California State University, Fullenon; Samantha Lawrie, Auburn University, College of Architecture, Design, and Construction; Scott Boylson, Savannah College of Art and Design. Close to home, Arlene Eskilson has read through each successive draft of the manuscript and made many valuable observations. This book would never have been completed without the joy created at home by my three sons David, Gavin, and Jack, who brighten every day, and without the assistance of their two grandmothers, Arlene Eskilson and Gail Friedman. My wife Jordi is the underlying inspiration for all my hopes and accomplishments. Stephen J. Eskilson

Acknowledgments At Brown University, Kermit Champa and Dietrich Neumann served as my scholarly role models. At Eastern Illinois University, Art Depanment Chair Glenn Hild has been supponive, while my colleague Roben Petersen was always on hand with learned advice. This book was originally accepted by former Publishing Director Lee Ripley at Laurence King Publishing, who kept it on track throughout the writing of the first edition. My thanks also go to picture researchers Emma Brown and Am_a nda ~ussell, '.'-11d the Picture Manager Sue Bolsom. Richard Hollis, Elame Lustig Cohen, and Emma Gee all graciously helped fill in the gaps. At Yale University Press, Art and Architecture Publisher Patricia Fidler and Senior Editor Michelle Komie have been tremendously supportive. For this second edition, Editorial Manager Kara HattersleySmith has deftly guided me and the book. Project Manager . Johanna Stephenson assisted me this past year through the pitfalls of textual revisions and page proofs. Likewise, Amanda Russell has worked assiduously on the images for the second edition. The designer Grita Rose-Innes had an especially delicate assignment in creating the look for a text on the_ history o~ ~raphic design, and she has continually impressed me with her smking graphic solutions. During the writing process I received indispensable help f the reviewers who helped me to shape the structure of the ; : ; text. In the United States these i~clude Carolina de B;nolo of Academy Art University, San Francisco; Rhonda Levy o the School of Visual Arts, New York; and Nancy Stock-Allen of Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia. In the

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THE ORlGlNS OF TYPE AND

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14

THE ORIGINS OF TYPE AND TYPOGRAPHY

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:tlerred to as the Reformation. However, Luther's choice of cher for his text also signaled a rejection of the roman prevailed in Italy, giving his seal of approval to the idea :ackletter styles were somehow quintessentially German in er.

?rom the standpoint of our current era, in which so much e of the impact of digital communication on culture and \·ity, it should be recognized that it would be hard to -;;;:;.::,c..a1e the revolutionary effect that the invention of mechanical i;:::::.=.ng had on European society. When Martin Luther wrote his ~ ~ eses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences" in 1517, a chapter in the history of Christianity began. It began because .:-:::i ::uing. Luther's protest spread across Europe in a matter ths in a manner that would have been inconceivable a :-y earlier. Not just the Protestant Reformation, but the 7 .: enment, even the development of democracy itself, would - seemed unlikely without the invention and dissemination of .:--- ting press. t years before the publication of Luther's New -:::s:2.:l!ent, in 1514, the printer Johannes Schonsperger the elder - : - 20) had developed the type called Fraktur (somewhat gly, the term "fraktur" is also used generically to refer ~ ' lack.letter scripts created after 1450). Based in Augsburg, - perger relied on that city's long tradition of fine calligraphy to design his new type. As suggested by its name, - features broken curves and oblique strokes that retain - .:!Jaracter of the calligrapher's brush which originally inspired - ;:ms_ Fraktur first appeared in 1514, when Schi:insperger 1-,_ __....,--u.1ed the Gebetbuch, a kind of prayer book, for Kaiser Yn::=,il i:in I. As would be the case with Luther's book, this event ~ to reinforce the concep_ t that blackletter was related to - _ - ·on, government, and 'culture of Germany. By the end - sixteenth century, roman and blackletter type were both Ecc::i-hiog and were often printed side by side; however, the roots · - fu ture opposition had already been established. - the seventeenth century, at a time when the roman Old - ces had become established across much of Europe, there .-:oatinuing typographic development, resulting in a new class ~ ces called Transitional. Transitional type gradually arose ~ the Baroque era, a period that is roughly synonymous e six teenth and early seventeenth centuries. While the ooroque" has stylistic connotations in the fine arts, where ~ to a break with Renaissance harmony in favor of greater ~ veness, in typography the term does not really carry any · meaning. In fact, baroque Transitional faces are very :-- connected to the Renaissance aesthetic, emphasizing ......~ '-.d.l balance over any other attribute. important event in typography during the Baroque period -e increasing patronage of the French royal government. evelopment was part of a broader movement whereby the ent under Louis XIV (r. 1643-1715) instituted a state ~ q thro ugh which the arts would be funded and controlled .__~~ official institutions. Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642), a ,isor to the king, had earlier overseen the establishment lmprimerie Royale, or "royal printing works." In 1692, ordered that a new set of royal typefaces be created - use of the Imprimerie Royale. After years of research

19

and discussion by a government committee at the Academy of Sciences, Philippe Grandjean de Fouchy (1666- 1714) was appointed to cut the new type. The resulting Romain du Roi, "roman of the king," would influence European typography for well over a century (fig. 8) . The invention of the Romain du Roi probably represents the first time that a horizontal and vertical grid became the basic tool for structuring a typeface. The commission that designed the typeface used a 64-square grid, with each unit further split up into 36 smaller squares, so that the entire system totaled 2,304 tiny squares. This design process gave typography the imprimatur of a scientific pursuit, whereby letterforms are worked out not by intuition but by rational, logical processes. In a sense, this episode established the final link in the definition of typography that exists unto the present- a field that requires a synthesis of many disparate skills: the practical knowhow of the manual worker, the creativity of the fine artist, and the logic of a scientist. The Romain du Roi established the stylistic principles of the Transitional faces, including more vertical stress, greater contrast in stroke width, wider proportions, and thin, elegant serifs. Another French typographer, Pierre Simon Fournier (17121768), made a major contribution to the field in 1737, when he invented the first point system for measuring type. Fournier's system, a part of the trend toward treating typography with the rational approach of the empirical scientist, used a scale based on inches, which were divisible into 72 points. Fournier also published the first encyclopedic survey of typography, the twovolume Manuel typographique (1766;fig. 9). This work represented the first comprehensive overview of type ever published, and it included a discussion of type from across Europe, offering examples of different regional trends. This kind of attention to the classification of a given subject or phenomenon was

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20

THE OR IGINS OF TYPE AND TYPOGRAPHY

left: 10 William Caslon, A Specimen, 1734.

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opposite: 11 John Baskervil le, Baskerville typeface, The Works of Mr. William Congreve, Birmingham, 1761.

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acclaimed poster (fig. 2.8), Mucha developed his signature style that featured an elongated figure amid a mesmerizing field of decorative flat patterns. With more muted color than Cheret, Mucha concentrated on the curvilinear rhythm of contour lines, particularly where they appear in the figure's hair and in the rich floral decoration that fills in Bernhardt's opulent costume as well as any empty space in the composition. The often geometric, repetitive patterns used in posters during the Art Nouveau movement are known as arabesques, although these patterns usually have at best only a distant relationship to the an works of the Arab culture that inspired the term. Bernhardt admired this first poster, and, always aware of the imponance of self-promotion, recognized that Mucha's grasp of Art Nouveau decorative glamour, as well as his ability to draw attention to her luxuriant reddish hair, was a perfect vehicle for her public image. After several more successful posters, in 1895 she hired Mucha to design not only more posters but also sets, costumes, and jewelry for her shows. Mucha 's advertisement for Biem de la Meuse (1897; fig. 2.9) shows a young woman displaying the idealized beauty and open sexuality that became the anist's trademark. An icon of jouissance, her image is one of the earliest examples of a favorite theme of advertising: the implicit promise of sexual availability that will be awarded to the male purchaser of a product. As she grasps a frothy glas~ of hecr, the dense floral elements around her arc made up

2.10 Hector Guimard, Metro En trance, 1899

FRENCH AR T

r OUVEAU

t,arley and hops. Here Mucha has d • . esigned hand •d hose curving rhythm matches the line f h rawn letters w .. s o t e figure e overall composmon. The young wo , h . as well as th mans au d • ,. 10 wer right quadrant has the undul . c epicted in Ih~ • • • aung rorm that b known as a basic bu1ldmg block of le style Mucha a ecame Art Nouveau. ' synonym for of

An essential principle of the An Nou . th veau movement was the bdief that e New An must consist of h . all . . a sty Ie t at could be applied m situations, and would not be u • nique to any one . ~ of design. It was hoped that this type of ·fy· . . •n · . uni mg stylistic coherence would serve to ue together visually h . . an ot erwise chaotic urban environment. For this reason • it is 1·mponant to . recognize the ties between An Nouveau graphics and h c · · 1 · th " b d ot er an forms, ror It 1s on y m JS roa er context that th · f . . . e aims o the arusts involved can be. made manifest. Outside the grap h 1c " d es1gn . f ch k field, the wor o ar itects provides some of the fimest examples ---. of the Art Nouveau movement. Analogous to the lithographic poster in that they were designed as pan of a mass·produced series of works that beautified the streets of Par1·s, th e M etro stati~ns created aro~nd 1899 by Hector Guimard {1867- 194 2 ) provide an outstanding e~am~le ~f how the stylistic principles of Art Nouveau could thnve m different media (fig. 2.J(JJ . The undulating forms, whiplash curves, and exuberant floral motifs of Guimard's station entrances exude the same son of sensuous elegance ~at Mucha had captured in the medium of the poster. The tendnls of the plants seem to have a life of their own as they wrap themselves round the iron framework, enveloping it in a dense web of abstract design.

Sensuality and Symbolism An advertisement fo r an alcoholic drink, the poster Absinthe Robette (1896 ;.fig. 2. 11), by the Belgian artist Privat Livemont

2.11 Privat Livemont, Absinthe Robette, 1896. Portfolio reproduction from Les Maitres de l'Affiche. 181/, x 13¼ in (48 x 34 cm).

influence on visual culture. These poets theorized an "an for an's sake," in which the aesthetic pleasure of the work is an end in itself, irrespective of any moral lesson or uplifting message. (1861- 1936), displays the exp ressive organic form, curvilinear Symbolists also sought inspiration in a veritable smorgasbord of rhythm, and sensual atmosphere that are syn onymous with An esoteric religious thought, including Theosophy, Rosicrucianism, Nouveau. Note that Livemont's use of what is essentially an and other nascent mystical beliefs. In contrast to many anists and allegorical figure is quite trad ition al, tyi_ng th e an of commercial designers who found much to celebrate in the new urban spaces graphic design to the rarefied world of the fine ans while at the of Europe, the Symbolists are an example of a flight from modern same time proffering a powerful sexual fancasy. The color in the life, an escape into a dreamy world of visionary nuances that was poster, a subtle element with slight gradations for which Livemont in many ways prefigured by Victorian Romanticism. became justly famous, is derived from the color of the absinthe The Symbolists decried the use of literal description in that it serves to ennoble. poetry and, by extension, all of the arts. Mallarme famously The evocative sensuality and ethereal atmosphere that wrote, "To name an object, that is to suppress three·quarters of pervade Absinthe Robette show the influence of the French the enjoyment of the poem ... to suggest it, that is the dream." Symbolist movement. Centered on a group of poets that included In place of exposition, the Symbolists advocated art w_orks . Stephane Mallarme (1842-1898), the Symbolists advocated art that evoked without describing, replacing clea r narrative with forms that tantalized the mind and tempted the senses. One subjective feeling and imaginative flight~ of fancy. It is _clear that 0: M.aJlarme' s most famou s experimental works, l 'A pres· midi the unfocused , atmospheric imagery typtcal of Symbolist poetry ~ un aun, is loosely based on the amoro us adventures of the influenced Livemont's poster, in which a fa ntasy beauty inhabits " ~eek god Pan . Mall arme produced a d ream li ke work in which an undefined space. l Js never quite clear whether events that take place are real or Despite the strong currents of nation,1lism that ~ac~cd Europe magined. At one poin t the lustfu l god questions, "Was it a dream during the Belle Epoque, one of the_French Symbolists grt'a\ loved?" Pan 's pu r uit of desirable nymph s, minor forest deiti es, heroes was the German co mposer Richard Wagne1: ( 181 _- 18fU). ervcs ~ an ambiguous framework for rh e poem. The many . d . 1885 the Symbolists inaugura ted a journa l in Pam an m 1·1 . l I" 'l• r~ unl'i m ,...1· .1 . · < c 1111n 1 H: s11hJtl:1 matter, 1 h , , ·I .. , . . . . • 11 Y ri;:ni:kr f'J~t-m:~. · Th c• Am· 1·1· un v ·r~inn of ( Am I Coll) p l\ l h lnt t li' l't'.:lhsm the pros.u,· apw~ A' ' mom ' nl N of r (! , , l'f . ' . . n. . .

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Aubrey Beardsley ~h~ career of one of the most influential English designers, ubl~ey ~eardsley (1872- 1898), was ignited in 1893 with the of a new an JOurn . al called The Studio. . This. mnovauve . . Pu. Jcauon d· pcno 1cal de 'b d " . d ' sen e as an illustrated magazine of fine and aPPI1e an " . Le ' was the fruit. of collaborati on between an established ed Jtor wi H'10 d 192 )'. Hin s t he publisher Charl es Holme (1848, and _

·ou 3 d sought to fmd youn g artists with fresh styles that the 1 rna could · thereby helping The Studio make a splash in a champ1on, crowded k . was fo...,, mar et. Thi.s strategy worked well because Hmd .. unaLe eno ug h to make the acquaintance of Beardsley, then a23uOknown . The first · issue · c da coveryear-old h of The Studio· reature j

illusir '. the young anist (fig. 2.2/J), as well as a number of other Aubr auons rliat supplemented an arti cle on "A New Illustrator:

ey 8ea rd61ey" by the American printmaker Joseph Pennell

(1857- 1926). Beardsley's cover for the first issue displays how much he had been influenced by the styles of Japanese prints. The scene of a forest is essentially two-dimensional, a series of overlapping flat forms set apart by different types of cross-hatched strokes of the pen. He succeeded in synthesizing an individual style that fused Japanese aesthetics with a graceful curving line as its foremost element. The subject of the cover illustration, a mysterious forest, resonates with the French Symbolists' exaltation of the natural world as an inspiring source of creativity. In fact, Beardsley's original design had included the figure of the Symbolists' favorite sexual persona, the Greek god Pan, but Hind and Holme considered the reference to be too lascivious for the

cover. Beardsley's embrace of French Symbolist principles marks him as pan of a parallel movement in England in the later nineteenth century called the Aesthetic movement. Centered

78

.X H I NOU LAU .\ N EW S1'

L E:

OR A N EW C ULTURE

2.29 Aubrey Bea rdsley, J'a, ba,sr,

1d IJouc, ,_ lokanaan (I K,ssed Your M ou1h. lo~anaani ,;, __ Th e Studio. vol 1. no 1. 1893 Illus rat ,r;r ., · ._,;_, ,,, O sca r Wilde 's Salome Lin e bloc, pr,r 11 and Albert Mu seum. London

EN GL

on ~ life and work of the playwrighr Osar Wilde (18S6-l 9 00). chis toosdy defined group of authors, artists, and critics rtjecrcd the samonizing moraliry of Victorian cul run:.. The members of the J\t:Slhcric movement focused on the idea of oijoying the plea.sure of 211 for its own sake, as opposed to seclcing our a historical lesson from arr·s subject matter. Followers of the movemenr shared the fascination with provocative images of sexuality, subjective dllorional responses, and supema.rural mysteries thar characterized chc Symbolist poets in Franc.e. Srylisrically, the Aesthetic movement was first inspired by the display of Japanese decorative am at London's 1862 International Exhibition. In the 1890s, hostile critics la.bded the work of the Aesthetic and Symbolist movements "decadent," because it rejcaed traditional Classical styles as well as browse of the artists' embrace of overtly sexual themes in their writings and an works. While the term "decadent" was intended as a rebuke. suggestive of the moral weakness of the Aesthetic movement, it was in rum adopted by authors such as Wilde as a dc:dararion of their modem taste. .Beardsley's strangely erotic drawing/ Kissed Your Mouth, Joh:znaan (fig. 229) was undoubtedly the most striking image included in the first issue of The Studio. The imagery is drawn from the play Salome, by Wtlde, first published in French in 1893. In the play, Wilde had reinvented the biblical narrative ofJohn the Baptist's execution into a story that highlights a phantasmagoria of sexuality and macabre fantasies. This drawing illustrates Beardsley's "hairline" style, as well as his penchant for dongated figures in a vertical format. An alternative version of this drawing, minus the text and some of the linear elements in the background, was published in book form to illustrate the 1894 English translation of Salome. Reponedly, Wilde was pleased with the work, although he criticized the license with which Beardsley had chosen to compose his images, many of which did not bear a strong relationship to Wilde's text. In many English people's minds, the An Nouveau style was inherently decadent, although that connection was rarely as manifest as it was in the composite vision of Wilde's and Beardsley's erotic imaginations. In direct contradiction to the expensive handmade production techniques used at Morris's Kelmscott Press, Beardsley's drawings for The Studio were created in order to be mass reproduc.ed by the photomechanical line block process. Because Beardsley worked mainly in black and white, his drawings could be reproduced without losing their visual impact. Inexpensive industrial techniques enabled his designs to be among the most widely circulated of this era, making him perhaps the most influential draftsman associated with the whole of the An Nouveau period. Beardsley's influence on advenising imagery was mainly indirect, although he did complete a handful of posters for ostensibly commercial purposes. In his Avenue Theatrt poster (1894;.fig. 2.3{}), the geometric pattern and attenuated figures characteristic of his work are evident. In one of his few fo rays into the world of color lithography, Beardsley made this poster to advenise a pair of plays. Note how the words "Avenue T heatre" have been written in an approximation of Asian calligraphic script, This poster, along with the Aesthetic rnovemem in general, was relentlessly mocked by the satirical lllagazine Punch, which rderred to it with the invitation "'Ave a

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2.30 Aubrey Beardsley, Avenue Theatre. 1894. Poster. Color lithograph . Victoria and Albert Museum. London .

80

ART NOUVEAU A NEW STYLE FOR A NEW CULTURE

the most aggressive simplification of any work produced in th · . II IS area. Clearly indebted to Japanese pnnts, as we as to Toulou Lautrec, the silhouetted figure in this poster is more radical! seabstract than comparable images of the time; its contour lin: disappears in several places so that the figure blends into the background. The flat tones, in stark contrast to contemporary French posters, make the image appear almost completely twodimensional. Note also how effectively the image is related to th text. Three pans of the figure-its head, waist, and feet-are set e off by heavy swaths of black ink. These three highlights are th matched by parallel parts of the text design, as the correspond:n words, "Harper's," "Magazine," and "Still One Shilling," are all g lettered in boldface black. Curiously, the striking image of a Beefeater, a ceremonial royal bodyguard, had been designed for a poster that advertised beef extract, but it was turned down b the original patron. Eventually, it was bought by the America: company in order to advertise the European edition of its magazine. Another Beggarstaff design, offered for a performance of Don Quixote at the Lyceum Theatre (1895 ;.fig. 2.3Z) , shows the unusual cropping-note the horse's missing hoofs and the panial view of a windmill-typical of the Japanese style. While the most obvious precedent for the Beggarstaffs' reductive abstraction is Japanese an, it is also apparent that they were making a vinue out of necessity in terms of cost. The simple black and brown scheme was much less expensive to print than, for example, the polychromed posters of Jules Cheret. Partly because of the challenging nature of their images, the Beggarstaffs did not build the same type of successful practice as other noted designers. In fact, the Don Quixote is perhaps the most famous poster never printed, as it rose to fame years later because of the admiration of artists who saw it reproduced in Les Ma£tres de l'Affiche. The Beggarstaff collaboration had been one of opportunity, and when the poster craze began to subside around 1900, Nicholson and Pryde, forced to confront the fact that they had not really made much of an income as designers, dissolved their partnership.

While 1894 found Beardsley at the pinnacle of his celebrity as an artist, the next year would witness a meteoric fall from grace. In 1895, Oscar Wilde pursued a libel suit that ended ba~ly; ~e was publicly excoriated and eventually imprisoned for vwlan_ng laws against homosexuality. Because Beardsley w~s closel_y allied with the playwright, his own career rapidly detenorate~ m the face of renewed public criticism of his "decadent" drawings. Beardsley went into self-imposed exile in France, and in 18~8 at the age of 25 he succumbed to tuberculosis. Because of hi~ abbreviated life and career, it was other designers, such as Will Bradley in the United States, who made Beardsley's style into a profitable, commercially viable enterprise.

The Beggarstaff Brothers The foremost English designers in the Japanese mode were the Beggarscaff Brothers, a name used for the collaborative works made by the anises William Nicholson (1872- 1949) and James Pryde (1866-1941). The Beggarstaffs adopted their pseudonym because they did not want their reputations in the fine an world sullied by any association with commercial design. The use of pseudonyms was not uncommon when painters took up commercial graphics-publishers are said to have preferred this arrangement as well, because they could reduce the fee paid to the anist while still receiving a top-quality product. The Beggarstaffs' 1895 poster for Harper's (fig. 2.31) displays some of

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2.31 The Beggarstaff Brothers (W1ll1am Nicholson and James Pr d ) l-larror's, 1895. Port folio reproduction from Los M aitres do /'Afl yh e · l81/, x 13V. 1n (48 x 34 cm) ,c 8 •

Art Nouveau in Scotland, Austria, and Germany As interest in new styles spread across Europe, Art Nouvea u designers in Scotland, Austria, and Germany developed a visual language that was overall more symmetrical, rectilinear, and ab st ract than that of their French and English contempora ri es . . Bro_adly speaking, this trend deemphasized the evoca ti ve r 01 r nt1,il of line, form, and color in pursuit of simplicity and clari t '· In addition to tracking this stylistic thread, the next section C\l'h11 ·~ three recurring themes. First is the continuing artempts b\' .int' ' to collapse the hierarchical relationship between the "fin ·111 ' of painting, sculpture, and architecture on one hand , :.i nd ih k,, esteemed "crafrs"-a category that included graphic design on t~e other. Second is the belief in the feasibility of an i~ 1 I, ,I utopias, or perfec t wo rlds, which se rved as an escapist alt ,·r n.ll to the alienating spaces of the industrial age. T hird is th e 11 " '

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2.32 The Beggarstaff Brothers IWiJham Nicholson and James Pryde), Lyceum Don Owxore, 1895. Black and brown paper pasted on wh ite Portfolio ieproduction from Les Marrres de l'Aff1che 18¼ x 13% 1n (48 x 34 cm)

82

ART NO U EA U A NEW STYLE FOR A NEW CULTURE

design styles as a marker of national or regional identity, whi~ celebrated the accomplishments of society under the leadership of bourgeois industrialists.

Glasgow, The Four Four artists-Margaret Macdonald (1864- 1933 ), Frances Macdonald (1873-1921) , Herbert MacNair (1868-1955) , and Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1925)-together formed the larger part of the Art Nouveau movement in Scotland. None of these artists worked professionally as a graphic designer; however, the limited works that they produced were to prove influential, and secured for Scotland a stable niche in the history of the Art Nouveau movement. When formed, this partnership, called The Four, consisted of two sisters and their respective husbandsto-be: Frances Macdonald and MacNair married in 1899, while Margaret Macdonald and Mackintosh followed suit a year later.

The Glasgow School of Art, Celtic Revival The city of Glasgow itself is important to an understanding of the Art Nouveau movement centered there. A nineteenth century boom town , Glasgow had undergone stanling urba growth during the Industrial Revolution. The rapid chan n_ ges 1n . its economy had created a vast economic chasm between the nascent bourgeoisie with their fortunes and the workers who toiled in the factories . In fact, the city became rather notori 0 a vulgar, blighted industrial zone, a reputation that most : as partly reflected English chauvinism. The decorative eleganpro ably ce of Scottish An Nouveau produced at the Glasgow School of An (GSA) should be understood in this context in which an ' served to provide an alternative world from which the difficulties of th industrial age could be conveniently banished. At the same time the art produced at the school also served to reject this caricatu e, of the city and rejoice in the affluence of the Glasgow bourg _r~ . . ~~ a social class that mcluded the Macdonald sisters. In fact, the sisters' education in the visual arts represented a typical step

2.33 Frances Macdonald, A Pond. 1894. Watercolor. Glasgow School of Art.

r .. ng women from the more progressive affl f for yo=· . . f h An , uem amilies . ally the spirit o t e s and Crafts movement . h' · fin M-,s' and applie • d arts were equally valued was .' m w 1ch th e fine"-"' . • c ' intended to a democraazmg rorce, one that could in some all act as a1 . f sm way at the gener perception o urban life as rife w· h . corn b . . . it social and rnic lflJUStJCeS. ecoo 0 b . Th e collaboration egan when the Macdonald 51-sters enrolled . h GSA in 1893. Once there, they found a suppo rttve . 10 t e u of fellow students determined to engage with the groP Piti om , this one for the th1'rt . I iz,.rng one of t:tnt 1 S IOW, held

in 1902 (jig. 2 .4Z) . By then , many of th e Secession ani sts had shifted to a decorative scheme built on onh.ogonal structures. Panly influenced hy the Scottish design principles that had madt a huge splash at the eighth Secession ex hibi tion in 1900, a subset of the Secessio nists adopted not only a new style but also a new tone, in which subjective, Symbolist-influenced flights of fancy were eschewed in favor of a more straightforward subject matter. At th e same time, geometric pattern , which does not lend itself to the sort of sensual atmosphere favored hy Klimt, became a more important visual element. In this poster, Moser used a scheme of three figures arranged symmetrically in a vertical format that is clearly reminiscent of Scottish graphics. The text is used in the Scottish manner as a plinth for the figures, yet it is better integrated by passages of ornament that allow text and image to flow together. In contrast to all of this geometric clarity is the fanciful lettering, which features scarcely legible abstract forms. Some of the letters bulge, some serve_as passive foils to the more exuberant letters, while the "R"s in "Osterreichs" (fourth line fro the bottom) look like deformed "N's. Though replete with curve: elements, especially the stems, the curves are not irregular, like those of the French Art Nouveau, but rather seem to be geometric in their baseline shapes. The geometric pattern and extreme simplification of the figures in this poster are distinctly unsexual and un-Symbolist, a far cry from the decorative sensuality of French Art Nouveau. Another poster that bridges the curvilinear style of the early Secession with the post-1900 concern with geometry was made by Alfred Roller in 1903 for the sixteenth Secession exhibition (fig. 2.43). At the top of the lithograph, the three "S"s in the word "Secession" display short, blunt curves that descend into

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ART NOUVEAU IN GERMANY

because their an tends to look inward, at their own minds, as opposed to documenting the ?uter worl~. Schiele has distoned his own face into a terrible gnmace that 1s complemented by the blood-red color. There is no direct correlation between the image and the traditional event that it promotes, suggesting the widespread acceptance of the Expressionist idiom as signifying "culture" in its broadest sense. In 1915, Schiele was granted the first solo exhibition of his aintings and drawings in Vienna, at the Galerie Arnot (fig. 2.50). ~e designed this poster to publicize the show. Displaying his ongoing propensity for narcissism as well as religious imagery, Schiele also represented himself in a Christian image; pierced by arrows, he resembles St Sebasti:111. Whi_le the elongated proportions of the figure have their roots m the Art Nouveau style, here they form pan of a disjointed body, an assemblage of distorted partS that do not seem to fit together. This damaged body torn apan by arrows says more about Schiele's internal psychological state than about the actual condition of his corpus. While the image depicts Schiele himself, the viewer is not expected to empathize with the specific facts of his suffering so much as to feel this powerful vision of emotional pain. In 1915, Schiele married Edith Harms (1894-1918), a young woman who lived with her family across the street from the anist, and it appeared that both his personal and professional lives were now finally in place. Tragically, in October 1918, Schiele and his wife, now pregnant, both succumbed to the Spanish influenza that killed many millions of Europeans. Klimt and Moser also died that year, while Kokoschka had long ago settled elsewhere. An era of Viennese an came to an end.

Pan and]ugendMagazines The first periodical to promote Art Nouveau in Germany as pan of an international phenomenon was Pan, launched in Berlin in 1895. Its founders included the 27-year-old an critic Julius Meier-Graefe (1867-1935), who in later decades would become one of the most esteemed historians of modern an in Europe. The title of the journal is suggestive of the international tastes of its editors, as the Greek god Pan, half-man and half-goat, was a familiar reference to followers of the Symbolist and Aesthetic movements in France and England. Pan was associated with creativity, music, and poetry, as well as with Dionysian sexuality and visionary nightmares, and therefore encompassed many of the favorite themes of Art Nouveau. Over its five-year run, Pan published a wide range of An Nouveau graphics from France, including works by Toulouse-Lautrec, Steinlen, and the painter Maurice Denis (1870-1943). A poster by Josef Sattler (1867-1931) advenising the journal shows the god emerging from a watery environment with his characteristic mischievous grin (fig. 2.51). At the same time, the stamens of a waterlily spell out "Pan," uniting text and image in the fashion of many French posters. Thisjugendstil image is rife with Japonisme, as both the orange and blue palette, with its juxtaposition of complementary colors, and the flat space attest to the Japanese influence. Meier-Graefe, who was serving

Art Nouveau in Germany The German Art Nouveau movement, called]ugendstil, represents another example of artists' desire to cast off the eclectic historicist styles that had dominated the nineteenth century. Anists in Germany became aware of the French and British movements through publications such as Das Moderne Plak:'t ("The modern poster"), a bound volume of 52 lithographic reprints including work by Toulouse-Lautrec, Steinlen, and the Beggarstaffs. While Das Moderne Plak;:lt was printed in Dresden in 1897 by Gerhard Kuhtmann, German artists also circulated copies of the French series Les Affiches Illustrees and Les Maitres de l'Affiche between 1886 and 1900. Beginning in 1894, a series of new magazines helped to galvanize a group of young German designers to pursue ~he s1:7les that were sweeping across Europe. The issue of national t~enttty played a large pan in the public discussion of the new art '.n Germany, as more conservative artists and intellectuals obJec_ted to the international , and especially French, aesthetic innova~wns th at underlay Art Nouveau. As was the case in other countnes, An Nouveau in Germany represented something of a clas~ of generations. This conflict is indicated by the term]ugendstrl, Which means "youth style" and was derived from the name ~f one of t he new German art peno . d 1c " al s 1oun c d ed by progressive

Yollng anists.

95

Pan, 1895 · Portfo\10 reproduction from Les Ma1tres 2 51 Josef Satt Ier , d~ /'A ff1che. 18'/, x 13'/, in (48 x 34 cm ).

96

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as both an director and financial manager of the journal, was forced to leave soon after the first issue was published, as the conservative patrons who had financed the venture objected to his French-inflected taste. Meier-Graefe was singled out for criticism panly because of anti-Semitic feelings. After his dismissal, the co-founder Otto Bierbaum (1865-1910) continued at Pan and managed to fend off the attempts by his wealthy backers to make the journal beholden to German national identity. It is imponant to remember that national identity was a prominent issue in Europe at this time, not just in Germany (a useful parallel exists in the French Symbolists' embrace of Richard Wagner, which upset French people who wanted to shut out German aesthetics). Also, the young editors of Pan wanted to revive the high standards of German arts and crafts just like their patrons, but they disagreed over the issue of espousing an international trend, as opposed to building a strictly homegrown tradition. Meier-Graefe continued to spread the gospel of An Nouveau in Berlin, where he founded the influential journal Dekorative Kunst in 1898, and in Paris, where he opened a gallery called La Maison Modeme in 1899. The use of the term]ugendstil as a German synonym for An Nouveau began with a periodical called]ugend: Illustrierte Wochenschrift fur Kunst und Leben ("Youth: illustrated weekly for an and life"), first published in January 1896. The publisher of Jugend, Georg Hirth (1841-1916), was committed to modern graphics from the very stan. He hired over seventy illustrators to work for the journal, producing a wide variety of An Nouveau graphics. He employed the Munich-based illustrator Fritz Erler (1868-1940) to create over fifty covers for]ugend, including one for the eleventh issue, published in 1898 (fig. 2.5Z). Hirth wanted each cover to reference the theme of youth indicated by the journal's title. Here, Erler has drawn a sinuous figure of a warrior with a sword looking outward toward some confrontation, emblematic of the aggressive persona of young men. Somewhat paradoxically, he usually chose to represent "youth" through medieval references, drawing on the long-standing admiration for that period both in Germany in particular and more broadly in Europe in the nineteenth century. The black figure is complemented by the bold red lettering in a planar scheme again replete with traces of the Beggarstaffs and Japonisme.

Blackletter The flowing text that spells out "Jugend" at the top of the ima~e represents an important compromise between}ugendstil aesthetics and the traditional German script called blackletter. Blackletter ~~ a catch-all term for scripted lettering rooted in the Middl: Ages in which the darkness of the characters overpowers the whiteness of the page," according to historian Peter Bain. Blackletter characters often strongly resemble the letters formed by the bluntedged quill pen used to write manuscripts. In the 1890s, much of German printi ng utilized blackletter, which was also called Fraktur. Compared to roman faces, blackletter's narrowly pr0 P0 n:ioned letters, stylized ligatures to connect letters, ao d ~mall Hpaccs between words and between lines of text, may

97

appear illegible and even unreadable to persons unfamiliar with it. In truth, this is not the case. There is no reason to believe that readers familiar with blackletter read at a slower speed than readers of roman typefaces, and the design of the letters helps to facilitate readability in terms of the specific orthography of the German language (in which, for example, the first letter of every noun is capitalized). The conflicts that arise in Germany during the twentieth century over the use of blackletter versus roman type reappear in several later chapters. It is very important not to confuse the characteristics of the sometimes ornamental, yet highly functional, blackletter scriptwhich was in everyday use in Germany through to the middle of the twentieth century-with the sometimes illegible, unreadable letters of many decorative typefaces. Erler's heading, "Jugend," is typical of German An Nouveau in that it combines elements of blackletter with curvilinear, decorative elements of modem handdrawn lettering. These elements can be hard to separate from one another for someone only familiar with roman lettering. However, blackletter generally has spikier, more angular modeling, as opposed to the elongated undulating elements that are dominant in Art Nouveau. Obviously, the synthesizing of new styles had a significant political component because by the twentieth century blackletter had become an important signifier of German national identity, so an artist who merged its forms with script that was recognizably influenced by Germany's European rival, France, was sure to offend traditional Germans. Another excellent example of how young artists sought to merge national tradition and]ugendstil aesthetics in typography comes by way of the designer Otto Eckmann (1865-1902). Eckmann was a versatile artist from Hamburg who had academic training in both the fine and the applied arts. Knowledgeable regarding everything from French Symbolist aesthetics to Japanese woodcuts, he focused his work after 1894 on decorative graphics. He produced a large number of illustrations-as well as ornamental borders, headings, and the like-for journals including Pan and]ugend. In 1900, he collaborated with the foundry owner Karl Klingspor (1868-1950) to create Eckmann, an elegant typeface whose styling borrows elements from both the blackletter and Art Nouveau traditions (fig. 2.53). While the undulating, swelling shapes of the letters bespeak Otto Eckmann's

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ART NOUVEAU IN GERMANY

. rerest in Art Nouveau, the "open bowls," or incomplete m . "b e white space in a letter such as the boundaries that c1rcumscn lowercase "g" reference a calligraphic root in black.letter.

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5;,nplicissimus Magazine The same year that]ugmd was founded in Berlin, 1896, Munich saw the introduction of a satirical magazine called Simplicissimus, which would commission some of the most striking images to appear in Germany that decade. S~mplicissimus was co-founded by the artist Thomas Theodor Heme (1867-1948) and the publisher ~ben Langen (1869-1909). A p_ost~r by Heine, published m 1897, became the _most endunng image associated with Simplicissimus, and was revived several times in different ways to promote the journal (fig. 2.54). It features a stanlingly red bulldog that has broken its chain, and stands confrontationally in an ambiguous field of black. The sturdy bulldog is neatly complemented by the restrained heading at the top, which stays away from the curvilinear exuberance typical of An Nouveau. The strength of Heine's balanced use of the blank space between dog and title is panicularly notable. This dog served to capture the spirit of sharp, biting commentary that made Simplicissimus one of the most famous magazines in Germany. Heine's canoons helped turn Simplicissimus into one of the most daring satirical magazines of the day. Then, in 1899, Heine met the same fate as Honore Daumier (see Chapter 1) before him, and was imprisoned for six months because of a canoon that had been published the previous year. The charge was an archaic one then still in force in Germany, Iese majeste, or offending the sovereign. The scandal in some ways worked in Simplicissimus's favor, as the notoriety of the case caused an enormous jump in circulation. Heine was largely undeterred by his incarceration, and went on to produce hundreds of additional satirical cartoons for

Simplicissimus. One of Heine's most famous subsequent works,

Kolonialmachte or "Colonial Powers," appeared on May 3, 1904 (fig. 2.55). In this image Heine directly mocks the "Scramble for Africa" that Germany had joined in 1884 in an attempt to expand its imperial influence. The caption reads, "Here is how the German colonizes, Here is how the Englishman colonizes, And the Frenchman, and the Belgian." In the early twentieth century, the European population was gradually awakening to the extent of the brutality visited upon Africans-brutality that was most viscerally illustrated by Heine in the lower right of his cartoon, which shows Belgium 's King Leopold II in the guise of a cannibal feasting upon a native African . Sadly, Heine's ironic assessment of European conduct was all too close to the truth as only three months later, in August of 1904, German troops carried out the genocidal destruction of the Herero people in Namibia.

Henry van de Velde DC$pite the movement's strong nationalist inflection, one of th e most successful jugendstif designers in Germany in the 1890s, Henry van de Velde (1 8 63- 195 7), was Belgian. Van de Vdde

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2.55 Thomas Heine. Colonial Powers. in Simp/icissimus. May 3. 1904.

99

100

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began his artistic career as a painter, winning some praise as a Symbolist-inspired member of the Bdgian ~oup called Lesld XX "th ") Like many Art Nouveau amsts, van de Ve e ( e twenty • . fi e f, cused on the decorative arts after a shon ume spent as a n :.Wt. Of course, the decorative arts were enjoying a ne"." elevated ·gru•ficance at the rime because of the mfluence StaWS an d Social Sl of Arts and Crafts theorists. Van de Vclde fir~t joined the ~ Nouveau movement by way of Paris, where m 1895 he designed three rooms for Siegfried Bing's gallery L'Art Nouvca~. ~n~er the rutdagc of Bing and Meier-Graefe, who was now !tvmg m · de Vdde embraced the concept of a new an that would Pans, van . d As" represent a synthesis of international, mainly European an tan, aesthetics. In 1897, van de Velde's Bing rooms were exhibited at the Arts and Crafts exhibition in Dresden. That exhibition cemented van de Velde's reputation in Germany, where he was soon receiving commissions for a variety of design projects from patrons in Munich and Berlin. The candelabrum that he created in 1898- 99 is a wonderful example of the whiplash curve as a fundamental design principle (fig. 2.56). The flamboyant arms of the candelabrum, derived from natural forms, exude the dynamic energy of a whip about to strike. "Line is a force," van de Velde stated, when asked to summarize his aesthetic. While he on occasion paid lip service to their views, van de Vclde did not share the same commitment to raising the standards of everyday, mass-produced objects through communal workshops professed by Arts and Crafts designers. Instead, he often assened that his individual talent was paramount, and was best used in the creation of handcrafted objects for the carriage trade. Perhaps because of these beliefs, van de Velde created only one design for a mass-produced poster during his career. In 1898, he produced an advenisement for the Tropon food

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hierarchy between fine and applied ans (see Chapter 1 have crafted the words 'i\rbeitsrat fur Kunst Berlin," which s and 2 The Kunstgewerbeschule was at that time run by th e Bel g1an . ). soar outward from them. The spiky, abstract drawing forming designer Henry van de Velde, who recommended Gro . a vision of stars and beams of light in the background is typical the job when he was himself dismissed because of his ioirus for of Expressionist art. The subset of Expressionists with utopian nationality. Gropius hoped that the new combined sch elign aspirations in particular often envisioned crystal cathedr~ls as oo s w I complement each other, the aesthetic theory of the fine ou d a metaphor of spiritual transformation. Simil3:Iy, _th~ ~b!,1que reference to non-Western art in the use of the pnmmve mask on being dialectically interwoven with the empirical know!:: the practitioners of the applied ans. The majority of the s!~ of the face of the figure to the left represents another key element at the school were men, and Gropius actively sought to enll from the repertoire of Expressionism. The use of the woodcut women from most media and especially from the exalte:clude medium itself harks back to the medieval prints that were an of architecture, generally restricting them to the weavin practice imponant source of inspiration for German Expressio.nist artists. and bookbinding workshops. g, P0 ttery, One element of the Arbeitsrat's vision for the future, its call for In naming his new institution the Staatliches Bauhaus more collaboration in the arts that are to be the product of a ("National House of Building") Gropius indicated his c . . close-knit community, was in fact rooted in an idealized vision of onv1ct1on that the arts and crafts could best be synthesized through the the past. Many Expressionists from the early twentieth century example of ar~hitecture, the Gesam~kunstwerk, The neologism asserted that the medieval period had been a golden age of Bauhaus was mtended to call to mmd the medieval guilds of fraternal collaboration, when artists and craftsmen had worked craftsmen that served as an inspiration for the school at th . side by side anonymously in pursuit of a common goal. . . . e time of 1ts foundmg. Before the First World War, Gropius had been a The membership of the Arbeitsrat was made up of artists and member of the Deutscher Werkbund and had wanted to desi critics from a variety of fields, although architects in some ways new, functional architecture for the modern industrial world. gn dominated the group. When Taut dispiritedly resigned in 1919 However, the trauma of the war drove him as well as many other because of the failure to achieve any significant political impact, members of the Werkbund to hunger for what they felt was a leadership of the group was transferred to Walter Gropius, an more spiritually authentic medieval past, in which artists had architect who had worked before the war in the studio of Peter collaborated for the greater good. Fairly quickly Gropius would Behrens (see Chapter 2). Gropius eschewed direct political action on the part of the Arbeitsrat, instead refocusing the group on a revert to his pre-war faith in the Machine Aesthetic and drop visionary architectural plan he called the Bauprojekt ("building this utopian nostalgia for the Middle Ages, but by that time the project"). This imaginary building was to serve as a center for the faculty at the Bauhaus had already been filled out with a number social and cultural regeneration of Germany. Again, the utopian of spiritually minded Expressionists. nature of the plan bears witness to the Expressionist roots of the Arbeitsrat-there was a pervasive belief in the group that Germany could be the site of a dramatic, if unspecified, social Expressionism at the Bauhaus and even spiritual transformation. The Arbeitsrat soon folded as the violence and turmoil of the immediate post-war era did The Bauhaus was initially under the sway of Expressionist much to undermine people's faith in speculative, utopian projects. precepts brought to the curriculum by Gropius and two of However, two important themes renewed at the Arbeitsrat would his first faculty members, Lyonel Feininger (1871-1956) and reappear in Gropius's later work: first, that the visual arts could Johannes Itten (1888-1967). Feininger, a German-American with play an instrumental role in the building of a new society; and, experience as a cartoonist, was given direction of the printmaking second, that architecture must assume a leadership role in the workshop by Gropius. One of his first works as a faculty member arts because it afforded the opportunity for the greatest aesthetic at the Bauhaus, the woodcut Cathedral (fig. 6.6), shows the strong and social impact. Gropius's view of architecture was, of course, influence of Expressionism in his work, as it is reminiscent of influenced by the concept of the Gesamtk.unstwerk, or "total work Max Pechstein's design for the Arbeitsrat, of which Feininger of an." He believed that the practice of architecture could serve also was a member. Used as the title page for the Programm as a centralized locus whereby all of the arts could be fused into a des Staatlichen Bauhauses im Weimar, the first publication that new whole. outlined the vision for the new school, Feininger's work ponrays the institution in starkly Expressionist terms. Here, the Bauhaus is ponrayed as something akin to the Arbeitsrat's Bauprojekt, a visionary building shining like a cathedral on a hill. Combined with the additional religious imagery of the brightly shining stars, this cathedral symbolizes the quasi-spiritual sense of mission that In April 1919 in the German town of Weimar, Gropius characterized the Bauhaus in its first years and which was drawn established an educational institution that brought to fruition from Expressionist doctrine. The text of the Programm reinforced some of the ideas that had originated with the nineteenth-century the theme of Expressionist spirituality that guided the new Arts and Crafts movement as well as those of the Arbeitsrat. In institution's faculty: merging Saxony's school of th e fine arts, the Kunstschule, with its school of the applied an:s, the Kunstgewerbeschule, Gropius Let us create a new guild of craftsmen without the was able to pursue a curriculum that collapsed the conventional class distinctions that raise an arrogant barrier betwt'cn

Weimar Bauhaus

WE IMAR BAUHAUS

217

craftsman and artist! Together let us desire, co nceive. and create a new building of the future, whi ch will embrace architecture and sculpture and painting int o one unit y and which will one day rise toward heaven from th e hands of a million workers like th e crystal sy mbol of a new faith. Clearly, Feininger's woodcut was intend ed to put into visual cerms this concept of the Bauhaus as a "crystal sy mbol of a new faith ." It is also notable th at Gropius in the text touches on both the intended erasure of the ans and crafts hierarchy as well as rhe "new building," which will unify the arts in an architectural

GeJamtkunstwerk.. An acquaintance of Oskar Kokoschka, Gustav Klimt, and Herwarth Walden, Johannes Itten already had a long-established career as an Expressionist painter and printmaker when he joined the Bauhaus in 1919. His initial assignment at the school was to oversee the sculpture, metalwork, and glass painting studios, as well as to design and implement an introductory course for all students. This six-month-long foundation course included practical training, such as an introduction to different media and basic design principles, but it emphasized the more diffuse goal of setting free the innate creativity of students. Using

6.7 Johannes lnen, Self-portrait. 1920 Photograph . Bauhaus-Arch,v, Berlin.

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unconventional teaching techniques, such as breathing exercises, ltten soon became a favorite of the Bauhat,is's student body. Yet, more than an administrator or teacher, his was a presence that resonated throughout the institution. Usually garbed in monk's robes, his head shaved like a Buddhist holy man, he was a literal embodiment of the Expressionist view of an as an essentially spiritual activity (jig_ 6.7). In the early 1920s, when ltten 's student followers took to fasting and self-mutilation at their leader's behest, his colleagues became more and more uncomfonable with him. He resigned from the Bauhaus early in 1923. In 1921 , ltten oversaw the publication of a yearbook featuring Bauhaus works that he called Utopia and subtitled Dokummte der \ er/dichkeit {DommentJ of Reality, fig. 6.8) . This idiosyncratic title is indicative of the hazy Bauhaus goal of making utopian specu lation into a social reality. The lettering of a cover proposal by O skarSchlemmer (1888-1943) co mplements lnen's conceptual speculation with its whimsicaJ, inrujtive design, wh ich features an assorrmem of elements drawn fro m Cubism and Futurism. The dramatic lenerforms-an odd mix of outlined lcners, expanded bolds, and attenuated sans serif: -are uffu ed with vibrant colors that appear to be derived from the palene of the Expressionist painter Paul Klee (1879-1940), another faculty

21S

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