The ceramic revival that took place in Germany during the post-war years owes much to the Bauhaus; in particular its focus on students mastering traditional hand-throwing techniques (till they became 'second nature'); then on applying these skills and knowledge to the design of beautiful, functional objects for daily use - pitcher, tea & coffee pot, plate, bowl, etc. - that achieve a synthesis between modernity and tradition.
Although the Bauhaus advocated designing ceramics for industrial production, many German potter who set up studios and workshops chose to produce objects of daily use by hand; albeit in series. Hence the presence of serial numbers incised next to signatures: to enable shops to re-order and to ensure continuity. This conferred upon German ceramics a distinctive craft quality: the persistance of the ‘hand-made’ at the heart of its production, in an increasingly industrialised world.
The ceramic unit at the Bauhaus was not set up on the actual Bauhaus campus, in Weimar, but some distance away in the pottery workshop of Max Krehan, in Donburg. There, it developed an intimate and relatively autonomous (and tension-free) way of working, structured around the system of apprenticeships.
When the Bauhaus moved to Dessau, the ceramic workshop did not follow and eventually transferred itself to Schoß Giebichenstein. There, Bauhaus Master Marguerite Friedlaender structured the ceramic course around Bauhaus principles: 1. mastery of craft and 2. design of prototypes suitable for serial production by industry. From 1929, she passed on the responsability of course leader to focus on producing new designs for the porcelain manufacture KPM (Berlin). Some of them, such as the Halle vase (below) are still in production.
* * *
One key aspect of Bauhaus ceramic design involved structuring the vessel into clearly 'legible' parts. One can see this characteristic in the works by Theodor Bogler, Otto Lindig and Johannes Leßmann. One could speak of a search for 'legibility', here; in so far as every part of the vessel was clearly differentiated, emphasised and integrated in a coherent whole. This is particularly evident in the Halle vase by Marguerite Friedlaender:
where the lip, neck, body and foot of the vase are clearly demarcated.
By comparing it with a similar vase from the rival manufacture of Fürstenberg, designed by Walter Nitzsche in 1937:
one notes that , in spite of some structural similarities, Friedlaender's vase stands out by her original emphasis on the neck: blown 'out of proportion' with respect to the size of the body; a seemingly arbitrary artistic decision that confers upon it a greater dynamism.
The clear articulation of the parts of a given vessel can be followed from the work of Otto Linding (from left to right: 1 & 2) to that of Paul Dresser (3) and Johannes Ließmann (4):
Ließmann went on to produce pieces that achieve a well balanced synthesis; such as the vase below:
a stoneware vase for Keramischen Werkstatt Margaretenhöhe (Essen) from the 1930s, that subtly integrates the traces of the potter's hand in a soft geometry that lifts a traditional hand-thrown form into a timeless Modernity. The light 'cloud' floating in the glaze adds a subtle dynamic note that introduces a element of asymmetry. The outcome is an elegant transposition of the Japanese tradition into European Modernity through a creative and 'open'/progressive integration of Art and craft.
The rigorous discipline of developing ceramic forms that emphasised hand-throwing can also be seen in the works of Walter Gebauer, whose work implemented the Bauhaus aesthetics during the 30s and 40s; first by producing austere unglazed works in which clay was the key. In this vase (below), produced in three sizes in 1938, traces of the hands that shaped the clay are enhanced by concentric circles cut into the clay and highlighted with a light discontinuous white slip line that runs around the vase from top to bottom:
The widespread introduction and spread of colour in his ceramics around 1950 was accompanied by a radical change in the form of the vase, along biomorphic lines:
This design shift can also be observed in the work of the Keramischen Werksatt Margaretenhöhe by comparing a piece by Johannes Leßmann made during the early 30s (left) and one made by his successor Wilburga Kultz (right) around 1950:
From then on the Bauhaus influence manifested itself in the practice of hand-throwing works that were serially produced; not as luxury artefacts, but as articles for everyday use.
Thus inspired, German ceramics retained a strong craft element that, in Britain, became an attribute of art-pottery produced as exclusive art objects and sold in galleries, at high prices.
Thus, mastery of craft techniques at the potter's wheel can be followed from the teaching of Otto Lindig, in the Donburg Bauhaus workshop, to the work of his pupil Johannes Leßmann, and taught there; before being appointed to run the Keramische Werkstatt Margaretenhöhe: from 1927 to 1944, which he re-organised on Bauhaus principles. Today's director of the workshop, Korean-born potter Joung-Jae Lee, remarked that today Ließman is remembered for having ‘helped spread the Bauhaus ideas throughout the Ruhr region'.
Following his death at war, in 1944, he was replaced by Walburga Külz in 1948 till 1953, when she moved on to set up as an individual studio potter.
Significantly the Bauhaus ethos has been preserved to this day, at the Keramische Werkstatt Margaretenhöhe under the artistic leadership of Korean potter Young-Jae Lee.
Another Bauhaus student who also went on teaching there, Theodor Bogler (1897-1968) contributed to spread the Bauhaus ethos outside the Bauhaus; first by designing items for the Steingutfabriken de Velten-Vordamm (1924-26), and, later at the abbey of Maria Laach, where he ran the pottery workshop, combining this responsibility with that of Abbot:
as well as conventional objects of devotion.
He also produced designs for the Majolika-Manufaktur Karlsruhe (around 1960):
THE DEVELOPMENT OF SERIAL PRODUCTION
The Bauhaus principle that advocated the production of designs for serial production was taken up by several German firms as early as the 1930s.
In 1935 WMF (then known for their decorative metal work and art glass) started to manufacture decorative ceramics. To help them in their task, they appointed Gerda Conitz as art director. The vase below, was produced as part of the new IKORA ceramic range:
Conitz's contribution was above all in the elaboration of glazes; many inspired by Chinese 'sang- de-boeuf' glazes, that transformed and animated the highly fired moulded bodies.
WMF ceased ceramic production in 1949.Conitz also designd for the Staatliche Majolika-Manufaktur in Karslruhe instigating, through her collaboration with Martha Katzer and others, the production of decorative ceramics of high quality:
Here the glazes harmonised with shapes that were modelled, then moulded or cast. A new era was to begin.
* * *
By 1947, when the Bauhaus ceramic unit had long left the Donburg studio, to relocate in Burg Giebichenstein; the Donburg workshop was taken up by Heiner Hans Körting and his wife (who had studied under Bauhaus master Otto Lindig). Working together, they carried on the Bauhaus legacy on its original premisses; producing variations of individual hand-thrown pieces, decorated with simple monochrome glazes:
as well as works which, although hand-thrown, displayed some architectural (geometric) features and were also produced in series; the one below hand-thrown then re-shaped:
Displayed side-by-side, these two vases illustrate the two main Bauhaus principles in an emblematic way:
that echoes the weaving patterns of baskets, associated by anthropologists and prehistorians with the origins of pottery:
The history of German ceramics during the post-war decades shows artists striving to achieve a balance between artistic integrity, craftsmanship and affordability through a rationalisation of production to keep prices down.
To be able to survive in an increasingly competitive market, some compromises had to be made and discrepancies in quality arose inevitably (as in Vallauris) between the cheaper end of the production and the more artistically ambitious pieces. Often produced by the same hands and in the same workshop.
As far as glazes were concerned, the chance factor played a part in establishing hierarchies that determine the quality of pieces and, today, help us establish aesthetic hierarchies between pieces emanating from the same production line — studio, workshop or factory— : a few good, many mediocre. This needs to be reflected n selling prices; not just the identity of the maker/s.
This needs to be taken into account when collecting (and when evaluating prices); for signatures are not a guarantee of quality; one needs to examine the works in their AESTHETIC MATERIALITY. This requires a critical eye and the experience of extensive looking.
REFERENCE
Walter Passarge, Deutsche Werkkunst der Gegewart (c.1937).
Comments
Post a Comment