Illustration: Heinrich Vogeler. Tapestry design, c1899.
The German artist and designer Heirich Vogeler produced a number of works in a range of disciplines, most of which were produced during the last decade of the nineteenth and first decade of the twentieth century. These three tapestries of Vogeler were published in an 1899 issue of the highly influential German Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration magazine.
In 1895 Vogeler, with his then wife Martha Schroder, settled in the art community of Worpswede in Northern Germany, not far from Bremen. The community attracted a cross section of creative talent including the writers Thomas Mann and Rainer Maria Rilke. It was here that it is assumed that he produced the three tapestries shown in this article.
The compositional narratives of these three tapestry pieces are very much in the vogue of the idyllic, with an unspecified German past creating a cross between romantic interludes and Art Nouveau styling. Much of Vogeler's work during this period, which also included a fairly large proportion of illustration work for both magazines and book publishing, takes the form of this languorous and idyllic formula.
Illustration: Heinrich Vogeler. Tapestry design, c1899.
Although by no means as strident or even as purposely unfamiliar as some of the contemporary textile tapestry work being produced in Europe at the time, Vogeler's pieces do have a certain clearness and defined sensibility. Even though they could be expressed to a certain extent as 'dreamlike', there is something decidedly modern, particularly when considering the actual makeup of the compositions. There seems less emphasis on the staging of the narrative and much more laid on the immediacy of the scene being portrayed. Therefore, narratives become cropped, some even being squeezed into framed areas.
This all gives the impression that even though art communities such as Worpswede which were spread out across the entire continent of Europe, were often considered retreats, particularly by those outside of the individual communities, many were often intensive creative communities where experimentation within art, design, craft and indeed lifestyle, were played out, sometimes successfully, and sometimes not.
Illustration: Heinrich Vogeler. Dornsroschen tapestry design, c1899.
This is not to say that Worpswede and Vogeler were necessarily at the centre of any contemporary and radical experimentation. However, most of the art communities that were set up did not attract a universally local following, but were in fact often on a national and indeed sometimes international scale. This coming together of creative individuals from sometimes all corners of Europe, but at least in the case of a community like Worpswede, from all over Germany, allowed communities to interact across disciplines and movements. Fresh theories and ideas were often regularly brought in from the outside world by new members, so it should not be assumed that these were necessarily communities that had any similarities to closed religious retreats, although to be fair a proportion did act very much as if they were.
Most of these art communities failed through lack of funding, boredom of the original patron who was often a member of the lower aristocracy, or creative implosion which often resulted in bitter and sometimes lifetime disputes between individuals. Those that did survive past the first decade of the twentieth century fell apart during the First World War. The European cultural and political framework became so different and confused after the cataclysmic war that it was a very different environment that faced Europeans in the 1920s. It was also one that was somewhat less accommodating towards the idea and ideal of the rural art community.
Illustration: Heinrich Vogeler, 1897.
Vogeler himself had planned to leave the community shortly before the start of the First World War. However, he was soon at the Eastern Front and from there his experiences turned him into a committed pacifist and Socialist, eventually emigrating to the Soviet Union in 1931 with his second wife Sonja Marchlewska, where he died in 1942.
Through all the huge and painful turmoil that was to be Germany's experience of the twentieth century, Worpswede still remains today. It is very much a community and town that still sees cultural and creative life as its central core. Worpswede has an internet presence and a link to their web site is listed below in the Further reading links section.
Further reading links:
Worpswede website
Heinrich Vogeler in der Sowjetunion 1931-1942: Daten, Fakten, Dokumente (Worpsweder Taschenbucher) (German Edition)
Heinrich Vogeler: Kunstwerke, Gebrauchsgegenstande, Dokumente : [Ausstellung] : 1.5.-5.6.83, Staatliche Kunsthalle Berlin, 20.8.-16.10.83, Kunstverein in Hamburg (German Edition)
Heinrich Vogeler (Rowohlts Monographien) (German Edition)
Heinrich Vogeler: Die Komplexbilder (German Edition)
Heinrich Vogeler und der Jugendstil (German Edition)
Kunstler, Kinder, Kommunarden: Heinrich Vogeler u. sein Barkenhoff (Heimat heute) (German Edition)
Heinrich Vogeler: Hamburger Werftarbeiter : aus der Asthetik des Widerstands (Kunststuck) (German Edition)
Heinrich Vogeler: Zeichn (DuMont Kunst-Taschenbucher ; Bd. 41) (German Edition)
Worpswede (German Edition)
