Studio: international art (57.1913)

Modern German Embroidery

EMBROIDERED CUSHION. DESIGNED BY P. SCHOLT, EXECUTED
TN THE LEHR- UND VERSUCH-ATELIERS FUR FREIE UND ANGE-
WANDTE KUNST (W. VON DEBSCHITZ), MUNICH

Modern german embroi-
dery. BY L. DEUBNER.

It is a curious fact, and one that prob-
ably very few readers of this magazine are aware
of, that the modern movement which has had such
a far-reaching influence on every branch of in-
dustrial production in Germany and has funda-
mentally transformed the appearance of our
dwellings and furniture as well as our streets and,
in fact, our towns, began with some embroideries
—embroideries, moreover, which made no pre-
tensions to being works of art, and, indeed, were
nothing more than the dreamy fantasies of a
sculptor, Hermann Obrist. It was just a momen-
tary whim of his which led him to have some
visions of fantastic ornamentation and piquant
colour-combinations carried out in em-
broidery instead of transferring them to
canvas with the brush, quite regardless of
any special purpose and unconstrained
by any knowledge of material and tech-
nique. Nor had his gifted collaborator,

Berthe Ruchet, any experience as an
embroideress when both began, purely
for their personal enjoyment, to design
embroideries to be worked by Italian
needlewomen—it was when they were in
Florence, nearly twenty years ago.

That which thus originated in what
might almost be called playful experiment
was so entirely novel, so instinct with
vital energy and revealed such a delicate,
refined feeling for colour and rhythm, that
these essays, like apparitions from some
imaginary dreamland far removed from
the everyday world, at once cast a spell

on those who saw them. Friends came
forward with suggestions for an exhibition,
but not until-after three years of silent toil
did the artist act on this advice. In
Munich, whither he had returned with his
assistant, he showed a collection of thirty-
five pieces which, on account of the extra-
ordinary daring of their ornamentation and
their brilliant colour, aroused great en-
thusiasm in artistic circles, but evoked
amazement and unanimous repudiation
among professional needle workers and “ the
trade.” And from their respective stand-
points both were right: the artists, who
rejoiced at the resolute departure from con-
ventional design and tradition and at the
evidence of creative activity; the traders,
who looked in vain for new methods and saw no sign
of any manual dexterity or any regard for considera-
tions of practical utility. But these embroideries
were never intended to subserve any practical
purpose. They were an artist’s fantasies, objets
de luxe pure and simple, and tremendously dear.
Two years later Obrist was obliged to abandon the
workshop which, in the full tide of optimism, he had
started. At the present day his embroideries are
museum rarities which have already acquired some
historic value and are forgotten, like the artist
who produced them, in obedience to that creative
impulse with which he was so richly endowed, never
dreaming what an immense transformation, economic
and cultural, was to flow from his venture.

When it was perceived to one’s surprise that
even on such a sterile soil as embroidery had

CUSHION. DESIGNED BY M. RUSCHEWEIJH, EXECUTED IN THE
LEHR- UND VERSUCH-ATELIERS FUR FREIE UND ANGEWANDTE
KUNST (W. VON DEBSCHITZ), MUNICH

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