DOI issue:
No. 57 (November, 1901)
DOI article:Fred, Alfred W.: The artists' colony at Darmstadt
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22772#0042
Artists Colony at Darmstadt
art historian not a little unhappy. A long period,
which, without possessing art handicraft tendencies
of its own, produced much, quantitatively, took its
revenge in the last quarter of the century. The
familiar and well-hated domination of the upholsterer
dates chiefly from the years following the Franco-
German War, when a general prosperity of the
people set in, a craving for luxury made itself felt
in the middle classes, and no artistic production
was ready to meet this want. As a matter of fact,
there never existed in Germany for the dweller in
towns areal middle-class (“ biirgerlich ”) style. In
South Germany there was, indeed, the “ Bieder-
WASH-STAND
rnaier” style, the specifically German variation of the
“ Empire ” ; but in the North, and also in the
South, if, in a general way something higher was to
be attained, they had recourse to carving of the
most complicated kind, or to imitations of French
court furniture. Gold lacquer and stucco reigned
supreme. In Vienna, Hans Makart, the leader of
society, imported soft Eastern customs into the
rooms, and bedecked everything with carpets,
Indian shawls, Persian textures. A reign of colour
began ; form and outline were nothing. In
Imperial Germany it was still worse. There
imitation reigned supreme. As the only impression
deemed worthy of attain-
ment was that of wealth,
of splendour, so gold, rich
mouldings, and heavy fur-
niture predominated. But
the middle-class man can
only afford middle - class
articles ; thus imitation
must come to the rescue.
In place of gold we see
varnish ; in place of marble,
cement or stucco; in place
of leather, papier-mache ;
in place of solid wood,
veneer. Such was the
ordinary German furniture
from 1880 to 1890.
It is scarcely ten years
since various efforts in
the way of improvement
were begun. It would, of
course, lead us too far to
refer here even briefly to
the genesis of the modern
tendency of art handicraft.
Too many influences, too
many issues, would have
to be noted. The English
art of furniture-making, the
theories of Morris, the
action or men like Ashbee
and Baillie-Scott, of the
Belgian, H. van der Velde,
the Japanising tendency
introduced by the house
of “ LArt Moderne ”
(S. Bing) of Paris, have
all had their effect, and
in Germany itself there
were men who had
ideas of their own, who
DESIGNED BY PETER BEHRENS
EXECUTED BY T. O. HEYMANN
24
art historian not a little unhappy. A long period,
which, without possessing art handicraft tendencies
of its own, produced much, quantitatively, took its
revenge in the last quarter of the century. The
familiar and well-hated domination of the upholsterer
dates chiefly from the years following the Franco-
German War, when a general prosperity of the
people set in, a craving for luxury made itself felt
in the middle classes, and no artistic production
was ready to meet this want. As a matter of fact,
there never existed in Germany for the dweller in
towns areal middle-class (“ biirgerlich ”) style. In
South Germany there was, indeed, the “ Bieder-
WASH-STAND
rnaier” style, the specifically German variation of the
“ Empire ” ; but in the North, and also in the
South, if, in a general way something higher was to
be attained, they had recourse to carving of the
most complicated kind, or to imitations of French
court furniture. Gold lacquer and stucco reigned
supreme. In Vienna, Hans Makart, the leader of
society, imported soft Eastern customs into the
rooms, and bedecked everything with carpets,
Indian shawls, Persian textures. A reign of colour
began ; form and outline were nothing. In
Imperial Germany it was still worse. There
imitation reigned supreme. As the only impression
deemed worthy of attain-
ment was that of wealth,
of splendour, so gold, rich
mouldings, and heavy fur-
niture predominated. But
the middle-class man can
only afford middle - class
articles ; thus imitation
must come to the rescue.
In place of gold we see
varnish ; in place of marble,
cement or stucco; in place
of leather, papier-mache ;
in place of solid wood,
veneer. Such was the
ordinary German furniture
from 1880 to 1890.
It is scarcely ten years
since various efforts in
the way of improvement
were begun. It would, of
course, lead us too far to
refer here even briefly to
the genesis of the modern
tendency of art handicraft.
Too many influences, too
many issues, would have
to be noted. The English
art of furniture-making, the
theories of Morris, the
action or men like Ashbee
and Baillie-Scott, of the
Belgian, H. van der Velde,
the Japanising tendency
introduced by the house
of “ LArt Moderne ”
(S. Bing) of Paris, have
all had their effect, and
in Germany itself there
were men who had
ideas of their own, who
DESIGNED BY PETER BEHRENS
EXECUTED BY T. O. HEYMANN
24