DOI issue:
No. 226 (January 1912)
DOI article:Schanzer, Hedwig: The teaching of design at the Prague arts and crafts school
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21155#0305
The Prague Arts and Crafts School
M 4 faculty of planning and
contriving, of ordering and
subordinating, of weighing
y ■' and balancing, of welding
together and harmonising.
|f \\ \\ Professor Benes—who is
not merely a theorist, in
spite of his doctrines, but
a thoroughly practical artist
also—knows quite well
JP»^ * ^--^^W 9 * ^*JP a^ depends on the
Jb/^ ^'{- fjp' ^'|^: innate^ sense of form and
, , acting a rigorous obser-
design for gold brocade (marsh marigold) by robert hajek . °
vation of his precepts.
An excellent teacher, he
plant forms. His imagination having been rein- endeavours, and not without success, to discover
forced, and a refined sense of the organic con- the pupil's individuality and encourages him
struction of the plant awakened, he discovers in a to make the best of it. It is very interesting
short time that there is only one step from the to see how the same motive is interpreted by
organic form to decorative composition, and different students in quite different ways. Accord-
moreover, that many an analytic study is itself an ing to his conception of things, his temperament
ornament.
Professsor Benes has his
own most individual sys-
tem of teaching composi-
tion, tracing back the
secret of design to a cer-
tain proportion of form
and colour to space. It
would take too long to
enter into the details of
this ingenious theory,
which apparently also has
its practical merits, having
regard to the successes of
Professor Benes's pupils.
To many of them, how-
ever, the eternal laws of
composition will always
remain a mystery, for it is
questionable if composi-
tion can be taught at all
to any but persons with
the true artistic instinct.
The ability to design is
an inborn gift which can-
not be acquired by routine,
though it is possible to
train the co-ordinated
faculties, such as the design for stained glass (wild rose) by marie kulhAnkova
283
M 4 faculty of planning and
contriving, of ordering and
subordinating, of weighing
y ■' and balancing, of welding
together and harmonising.
|f \\ \\ Professor Benes—who is
not merely a theorist, in
spite of his doctrines, but
a thoroughly practical artist
also—knows quite well
JP»^ * ^--^^W 9 * ^*JP a^ depends on the
Jb/^ ^'{- fjp' ^'|^: innate^ sense of form and
, , acting a rigorous obser-
design for gold brocade (marsh marigold) by robert hajek . °
vation of his precepts.
An excellent teacher, he
plant forms. His imagination having been rein- endeavours, and not without success, to discover
forced, and a refined sense of the organic con- the pupil's individuality and encourages him
struction of the plant awakened, he discovers in a to make the best of it. It is very interesting
short time that there is only one step from the to see how the same motive is interpreted by
organic form to decorative composition, and different students in quite different ways. Accord-
moreover, that many an analytic study is itself an ing to his conception of things, his temperament
ornament.
Professsor Benes has his
own most individual sys-
tem of teaching composi-
tion, tracing back the
secret of design to a cer-
tain proportion of form
and colour to space. It
would take too long to
enter into the details of
this ingenious theory,
which apparently also has
its practical merits, having
regard to the successes of
Professor Benes's pupils.
To many of them, how-
ever, the eternal laws of
composition will always
remain a mystery, for it is
questionable if composi-
tion can be taught at all
to any but persons with
the true artistic instinct.
The ability to design is
an inborn gift which can-
not be acquired by routine,
though it is possible to
train the co-ordinated
faculties, such as the design for stained glass (wild rose) by marie kulhAnkova
283