Franz Metzner and the Structure of Carpet Design

Illustration: Franz Metzner. Carpet design, c1906.

The German sculptor Franz Metzner was a relatively important artist of his time and was particularly influential during the period that incorporated the Jugendstil. His sculpture which was very often incorporated within an architectural setting, both inside and out, tended towards a form of semi-abstraction, with figures often appearing to be rooted within the framework of a building.

Although Metzner was almost exclusively seen as a fine art sculptor, he did produce a certain amount of design work, particularly in carpet design. It is always an interesting diversion in the career of fine artists, to see work that was not necessarily focused on the absolute and the unrepeated. Although, to some extent Metzner could be classed as working at least within some of the confines of architecture, a design discipline, particularly due to his close association between sculpture, ornamentation and architectural detail, he would still be better categorised as a fine artist.

The three carpet designs shown in this article were produced by Metzner in the first decade of the twentieth century. Interestingly, they all show a severe limitation in any real form of expansive decoration or pattern work. Although in Germany there was certainly an element within the design structure of the period towards the limiting and even containment of the more expansive and stylised areas of Art Nouveau, some would even say affectation, even in Germany this was often treated with a certain amount of creative licence.

Illustration: Franz Metzner. Carpet design, c1906.

Metzner seems to have foreshadowed at least elements of carpet and rug decoration that were to be seen a decade or so later in the Art Deco period. This form of extreme geometry that works so well on the flat surface of a rug or carpet, particularly when seen within some of the starker Modernist interiors of the early twentieth century, came to dominate large sections of the textile market which included woven and printed textiles, carpet and rug, tapestry and even embroidery.

The limited and all-over pattern work produced by Metzner, paid little attention to the traditions of carpet and rug design. Whilst he was still capable of using such conventions as borders, as well as using the rectangular or square format, he made those conventions work for him. The practical vertical and horizontal nature of a carpet was used by Metzner to produce his pattern work. He did not insist on using the dimensions of the carpet in order to compose a freestyle composition that paid little attention to the formula of the discipline. Instead, he made the decorative pattern work a feature of the weaving process by creating a vertical and horizontal network that strictly adhered to the technical aspects of the carpet, as you often find in woven materials, but less so in carpet and rug design.

By placing more emphasis on the structure of the underlying practical aspects of the carpet, in many ways Metzner cleverly reflected what were often seen, and still are, as the limiting aspects of textile design. It is often thought that the technical rules of a discipline hinder creativity, but in many respects those same practical rules of limitation can also lead to levels of creativity that are more profound to the discipline than if they were intentionally ignored.

Illustration: Franz Metzner. Carpet design, 1910.

By understanding perhaps that a carpet or rug was basically a structured framework rather than a blank canvas in which to impose a composition, Metzner produced a set of decorative carpet designs that could be seen as strikingly original, whilst at the same time being also grounded within the perceived limitations of the discipline. By flowing with the discipline, rather than against it, by expressing the underlying vocabulary of the structure of its construction through the visual language of pattern and decoration, rather than trying to fight against its natural rules and limitations, we can achieve design work that is far from limited in its scope and direction. Whatever textile discipline we choose to work in and from whatever direction we have arrived at that discipline, using the natural boundaries of the craft as a theme, guide, or starting point of inspiration can often lead to stronger, more centred and certainly more harmonious finished pieces than if we were to constantly struggle to impose a foreign concept to a discipline purely for the sake of it.

This is not to say that parameters should never be challenged, that has been the lifeblood of design, decoration and craft. It also does not necessarily mean that 'tradition' is the best formula in which to work. However, working within a discipline, understanding its vocabulary, both practical and ephemeral, allows an individual to take that discipline for a long creative walk whilst still within the framework of its natural traditions.

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Swedish Landscape in Fine Art and Tapestry

Illustration: Helmer Jonas Osslund. Varafton Bakom Kiruna.

Swedish tapestry design of the early twentieth century was known at the time as probably some of the best woven artwork being produced in Europe. Much of the narrative and compositional work was based on the landscape and tended to follow what was termed as typical of the Swedish natural environment. Many of the tapestry pieces produced by a range of fine and decorative artists contained the colours, tones and textures that were so much a part of the Swedish identity across so many disciplines, but particularly in textiles. 

Fine art and tapestry during this period enjoyed a particularly close relationship. Swedish artists showed a creative interpretation, but also an innate understanding of colour, tone and texture. The relationship between artist and colour seemed so apparent to many outsiders that it was often seen as an integral part of the Swedish fine art and tapestry scene, so much so that it was often stated that Swedish artists placed '...great weight...on colours and their values.'

It seems fitting therefore to place two illustrations, one fine art and one tapestry, beside each other in the same article. They were not produced by the same artist; the painting is by Helmer Jonas Osslund and the tapestry by Henrik Krogh. However, it perhaps needs to be seen how close fine and tapestry art were considered to be during this period. Tapestry in particular was entering a rich new creative phase of its life in Sweden. Woven textiles had a long and traditional history in Sweden, but it was not until the latter part of the nineteenth century that weaving within the remit of tapestry, really began to be opened up as a contemporary art form. 

Illustration: Henrik Krogh. The Spruce Coppice, c1913.

Both fine art and tapestry became linked with the search for idyllic ruralism and even a search for the untouched wilderness as portrayed by scenes of Sweden's northern provinces. In some respects, both fine and tapestry art were influenced by the Swedish Arts and Crafts movement, which in its turn was initially influenced by the English Arts and Crafts movement. With the late but rapid industrialization of Sweden and the urbanisation of at least part of its population, the search for an idyllic rural life in the 1890s was just as important and illusive as the same search had been in England. However, although rural idylls and utopias always seemed to struggle with the realities and practicalities of industrial Europe, the ideal did fuel the creative arts. So much so that in many respects the Arts and Crafts movement which took place in many European states and regions, and for a variety of differing reasons, produced some of the best in hand produced decorative arts work.

To see fine art and tapestry in tandem with each other, sharing the same inspirational origins and with similar results, allows us to see how closely the two mediums could work together when inspired to do so. Osslund's painting Varafton Bakom Kiruna could well have been commissioned as a tapestry work, and Krogh's The Spruce Coppice could equally have been commissioned as an original fine art piece. Both are beautifully proportioned and use colour and tone to its most dramatic effect. Texture is inbuilt and implied, taking on a creative naturalism that is easily identified with the landscape. Although one composition appears enclosed and insular and the other open and expansive, the colour themes which range from the rich and deep earth tones to the series of greens and yellows that denote foliage, are in some ways so similar that they could be said to be part of the same sense of creative and observational characteristics and they certainly share a part of the Swedish environmental identity.

By showing these two pieces of work it is hoped that it gives some indication of the artistic creativity that came to fruition during the early part of the twentieth century in Sweden. That Sweden had a strong native tradition of creativity, one that is often considered to be perhaps one of the oldest unbroken craft systems in Europe, did not stop native Swedes from allowing a sense of contemporary and expansive creative freedom being added to the traditions of the past. It is this continuation of tradition through the contemporary that has made Swedish art, design and decoration so successful and such an essential part of the decorative and creative arts of our own time. It is perhaps an understanding that tradition does not necessarily entail intransigence and retreat, which should in its turn be seen as perhaps a lifesaving attitude to take when considering those same traditions in other parts of Europe that have and are struggling to survive as part of the contemporary world.

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