DOI Heft:
No. 103 (October, 1901)
DOI Artikel:Fred, Alfred W.: The artists' colony at Darmstadt
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19874#0036
Artists Colony at Darmstadt
art historian not a little unhappy. Along period, maier" style, the specifically German variation of the
which, without possessing art handicraft tendencies " Empire " ; but in the North, and also in the
of its own, produced much, quantitatively, took its South, if, in a general way something higher was to
revenge in the last quarter of the century. The be attained, they had recourse to carving of the
familiar and well-hated domination of the upholsterer most complicated kind, or to imitations of French
dates chiefly from the years following the Franco- court furniture. Gold lacquer and stucco reigned
German War, when a general prosperity of the supreme. In Vienna, Hans Makart, the leader of
people set in, a craving for luxury made itself felt society, imported soft Eastern customs into the
in the middle classes, and no artistic production rooms, and bedecked everything with carpets,
was ready to meet this want. As a matter of fact, Indian shawls, Persian textures. A reign of colour
there never existed in Germany for the dweller in began ; form and outline were nothing. In
towns a real middle-class (li/>iirgerlich") style. In Imperial Germany it was still worse. There
South Germany there was, indeed, the " Bieder- 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 of men like Ashbee
and Baillie-Scott, of the
Belgian, H. van der Velde,
the Japanising tendency
introduced by the house
W&S^S^^^^^^^^^^-'-:^^^^M -^^a|.:.-?^P^^^S^ of " L'Art Moderne "
WBmS^^^^^B^^^^^^^^WWWI -''-'it--——- j "^BKBflUB (S- Bing) of Paris, have
^^^^^■■■^■■IMI j all had their effect, and
......J in Germany itself there
wash-stand designed by peter behrbns were men who had
executed by t. d. heymann ideas of their own, who
24
art historian not a little unhappy. Along period, maier" style, the specifically German variation of the
which, without possessing art handicraft tendencies " Empire " ; but in the North, and also in the
of its own, produced much, quantitatively, took its South, if, in a general way something higher was to
revenge in the last quarter of the century. The be attained, they had recourse to carving of the
familiar and well-hated domination of the upholsterer most complicated kind, or to imitations of French
dates chiefly from the years following the Franco- court furniture. Gold lacquer and stucco reigned
German War, when a general prosperity of the supreme. In Vienna, Hans Makart, the leader of
people set in, a craving for luxury made itself felt society, imported soft Eastern customs into the
in the middle classes, and no artistic production rooms, and bedecked everything with carpets,
was ready to meet this want. As a matter of fact, Indian shawls, Persian textures. A reign of colour
there never existed in Germany for the dweller in began ; form and outline were nothing. In
towns a real middle-class (li/>iirgerlich") style. In Imperial Germany it was still worse. There
South Germany there was, indeed, the " Bieder- 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 of men like Ashbee
and Baillie-Scott, of the
Belgian, H. van der Velde,
the Japanising tendency
introduced by the house
W&S^S^^^^^^^^^^-'-:^^^^M -^^a|.:.-?^P^^^S^ of " L'Art Moderne "
WBmS^^^^^B^^^^^^^^WWWI -''-'it--——- j "^BKBflUB (S- Bing) of Paris, have
^^^^^■■■^■■IMI j all had their effect, and
......J in Germany itself there
wash-stand designed by peter behrbns were men who had
executed by t. d. heymann ideas of their own, who
24