Illustration: Max Joseph Gradl. Wallpaper design, c1898.
The German designer Max Joseph Gradl is much better known for his Art Nouveau styled jewellery design which he produced at the turn of the twentieth century. His jewellery work can still be found and crops up regularly in auction. However, Gradl also produced work in a number of other disciplines including graphic and wallpaper design. In graphics the designer produced a number of front covers for the popular and influential Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration magazine, most of which appeared within the last two years of the nineteenth century.
Gradl also produced some wallpaper design work an example of which is illustrated in this article. This particular piece was produced at the very end of the nineteenth century around about 1898. It is a particularly exceptional piece of design work that relies on the expertise of the artist rather than that of the decorative style era in which it was produced. In some respects the jewellery work that Gradl produced in tandem with this wallpaper design, gives a clear and strong indication through this illustrated piece, how one discipline can affect the outcome of another.
Jewellery design by its very nature is often approached in a clear and precise manner, with pattern work appearing contained and often singular in aspect. The wallpaper design produced by Gradl is so defined that it even appears to represent the enamelled work that can often be found in jewellery, particularly during the Art Nouveau period. The effect appears to be particularly noticeable when looking at the coloured fruit suspended from the trees.
Although this particular design piece could well have represented a variation of Gradl's jewellery work, it has taken an extra step by introducing both representational scenery, which admittedly is relegated to the background, as well as a bold and decorative effect that frames the entire wallpaper piece, creating an effect that helps to incorporate the wallpaper frieze as a decorative achievement in its own right rather than that of an appendix to some other interior accessory.
Although Gradl did have a fairly extensive history in jewellery design he also attended the Art School in Munich and therefore did have a grounding in both art and decoration. It is sometimes this duel aspect of fine art and design that can open up the prospects of creativity in an individual. By understanding both the art and design mechanisms that lie behind the range of disciplines that make up the decorative arts, another dimension can be added, making all the difference between the approach and finished effect of pattern and decoration.
This cross-fertilisation, particularly from the aspect of fine art, can often produce work that is above the commercial constraints of the design world, at least as far as visuals and approach is concerned. To work within the dynamics of fine art, even briefly, gives an added dimension to any designer that could well stay with them for their rest of their working lives.
Reference links:
Art Nouveau: Utopia: Reconciling the Irreconcilable (Taschen's 25th Anniversary Special Editions Series)
Art Nouveau
Treasury of Art Nouveau Design & Ornament (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Art Nouveau: An Anthology of Design and Illustration from "The Studio" (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Art Nouveau Floral Patterns and Stencil Designs in Full Color (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
305 Authentic Art Nouveau Jewelry Designs
Art Nouveau Jewelry
Art Nouveau, 1890-1914
Art Nouveau Jewellery from Pforzheim (English and German Edition)
Art Nouveau Jewellery and Jewels from the Belle Epoque 1890-1914. London, Thursday 18 June 1998
Centuries of Style: Art Nouveau: Jewellery and Metalwork
The Art Nouveau Style
Fine Art Nouveau and Symbolist Jewellery, The Ritman Collection: Auction November 16, 1995 - Sale GE 0182
Jugendstil Guertelschlieýen / Art Nouveau Buckles: Sammlung Kreuzer / The Kreuzer Collection
Schmuck-Kunst im Jugendstil At Nouveau Jewellery
Modern Style: Jugendstil/Art Nouveau 1899-1905
Art nouveau in Munich: Masters of Jugendstil from the Stadtmuseum, Munich, and other public and private collections
