DOI article:
Deubner, Ludwig: German architecture and decoration
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41876#0150
GERMAN ARCHITECTURE AND DECORATION
products, but the material solution of practical problems, that it is
founded on technical necessities and is not occupied exclusively with
arbitrary variations of ornamental forms. But it is not only the
organisation that is wanting ; there is no encouragement from the
Government, and, more important still, there is no support from the
heads of industrial concerns, who have so much influence, but who
are either indifferent or hostile towards modern aspirations. Hence
those artists who are eager to go forward are denied the needful
practical discipline and the possibility of acquiring that experience
which would enable them to progress beyond that initial stage of
fruitless and disappointing experimentation which leaves its mark
on the decorative sections of French art exhibitions.
On the other hand the Bavarian Exhibition demonstrated the
influence of modern ideals on the entire industrial output of the
country and had for us all the significance of a far-reaching economic
problem. Here weaknesses were not absent, and it was evident that
the industrial products of Bavaria alone did not suffice for such an ex-
tensive exhibition restricted to work of the highest quality. Germany
as a whole would have found it a much easier matter to demonstrate,
by a rigid selection of the highest class of work, the potent influence
of the new spirit on every branch of industry ; but Bavaria in this
exhibition, which represented all the industries and manufactures of
the country, proved itself unable to do this at present. If, therefore,
the authorities had to yield to a compromise, and admit many things
not in harmony with their programme, special importance neverthe-
less attaches to this “ Gewerbeschau ” in the history of exhibitions,
because in it, for the first time, the idea of a selling exhibition was
realised. It was indeed a great fair, which acquired a unique
character through the buildings being arranged as vast sale-rooms,
pottery markets, streets with shops, show-rooms and cases of all kinds,
and proved a great attraction because all the articles exhibited could
be purchased and removed. Its merit and success were therefore due
to its comprehensive propaganda in the interests of good and tasteful
work in all departments of production, to the co-operation, every-
where in evidence, between artists and manufacturers, and to the
transfer of 250,000 marks—one-half of the net surplus—to industrial
associations of the country to enable them to carry on the work.
In Germany industrial art has become a national affair and is
prosecuted by the people with that same devotion and zeal by
which other great transformations in their intellectual and economic
life have been accomplished. We are alive to the fact that after the
loss of our intellectual supremacy in the Middle Ages we were far
O8
products, but the material solution of practical problems, that it is
founded on technical necessities and is not occupied exclusively with
arbitrary variations of ornamental forms. But it is not only the
organisation that is wanting ; there is no encouragement from the
Government, and, more important still, there is no support from the
heads of industrial concerns, who have so much influence, but who
are either indifferent or hostile towards modern aspirations. Hence
those artists who are eager to go forward are denied the needful
practical discipline and the possibility of acquiring that experience
which would enable them to progress beyond that initial stage of
fruitless and disappointing experimentation which leaves its mark
on the decorative sections of French art exhibitions.
On the other hand the Bavarian Exhibition demonstrated the
influence of modern ideals on the entire industrial output of the
country and had for us all the significance of a far-reaching economic
problem. Here weaknesses were not absent, and it was evident that
the industrial products of Bavaria alone did not suffice for such an ex-
tensive exhibition restricted to work of the highest quality. Germany
as a whole would have found it a much easier matter to demonstrate,
by a rigid selection of the highest class of work, the potent influence
of the new spirit on every branch of industry ; but Bavaria in this
exhibition, which represented all the industries and manufactures of
the country, proved itself unable to do this at present. If, therefore,
the authorities had to yield to a compromise, and admit many things
not in harmony with their programme, special importance neverthe-
less attaches to this “ Gewerbeschau ” in the history of exhibitions,
because in it, for the first time, the idea of a selling exhibition was
realised. It was indeed a great fair, which acquired a unique
character through the buildings being arranged as vast sale-rooms,
pottery markets, streets with shops, show-rooms and cases of all kinds,
and proved a great attraction because all the articles exhibited could
be purchased and removed. Its merit and success were therefore due
to its comprehensive propaganda in the interests of good and tasteful
work in all departments of production, to the co-operation, every-
where in evidence, between artists and manufacturers, and to the
transfer of 250,000 marks—one-half of the net surplus—to industrial
associations of the country to enable them to carry on the work.
In Germany industrial art has become a national affair and is
prosecuted by the people with that same devotion and zeal by
which other great transformations in their intellectual and economic
life have been accomplished. We are alive to the fact that after the
loss of our intellectual supremacy in the Middle Ages we were far
O8