Illustration: Franz Hein. Marchenbilder tapestry design, c1898.
Franz Hein is perhaps better known for his fine art work produced during a career that spanned the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries. Although he did produce some tapestry work, most of his output does seem to be in the mould of fine art painting. This particular tapestry design entitled Marchenbilder was produced in about 1898, right at the very end of the nineteenth century, but also at the beginning of the Art Nouveau period.
Marchenbilder can be loosely translated into English as Fairy Pictures, which is perhaps appropriate for an artist that had a reputation for delivering work that was very much themed on the fairy tales and myths of his native Germany. It was the use of mythical and half legendary compositional themes that perhaps gives the impression that Hein was, if not a member of the Arts & Crafts movement then at least a sympathiser with the general drift of the movement along relatively romantic lines, rather than a follower of the more decoratively themed Art Nouveau.
Although perhaps not as wide-ranging and fundamental as the English incarnation, the German Arts & Crafts movement was active during the period of the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and could be classed as somewhat strident. From the re-unification of Germany in 1871, the romanticism generated by Germany's past became a much more defined nationalistic cause and, to some extent at least, the medieval inspired aspect of the movement became entangled within the aspirations of the German state for equality with France and Britain.
However, there was a genuine need in Germany for the dimension that would include the imaginary, the fabulous and the fairy tale as with any other society or community. There were a number of avenues and creative sources for which this need could be expressed; in Germany, in particular literature and music perhaps come first to mind. The craft system in Germany was also used creatively to express these needs and fine art painting, architecture, interior design and decoration helped to express the romanticism that was endemic in many European nation states at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries.
Textiles were a particularly good form in which to reflect the interest in medievalism and the mythology and fairy tales of early Europe. Embroidery and woven tapestry production was particularly useful in this respect as both crafts gave the impression of a generational longevity that could conceivably be traced back to the beginnings of the nation state. In Germany's case this could be seen as a golden age of medieval valour and courtship that existed at an indefinite period of history.
Hein's tapestry, although perhaps not the greatest achievement of the period, does sit well within the sentiment of the wide-ranging romanticism of the period. There is a particular emphasis on an illustrative tendency in the work, which is perhaps not surprising considering that Hein supplied a substantial amount of illustrative work, often on the theme of fairy tale and legend.
Although there is nothing that particularly marks this tapestry as being intrinsically German rather than French or English, both countries produced work that was relatively similar in style and sentiment, Marchenbilder does draw attention to the fact that despite the Modernist slant on much of the German decorative and design work produced during this period, there was also a strong sentiment and connection with the past, no matter how romantically or imaginatively led. It is important to remember that the decorative arts are as complex as the society that drives them towards their creativity. Romantically motivated sentiment along with a formidably messianic belief in the power of Modernism can be contained within the same culture, at the same time, sometimes even by the same individuals. The complexity of the human dynamic will always be reflected within the creativity of the species and the broad aspects of that creativity and dynamism can sometimes seem confusingly diverse.
Further reading links:
The Arts & Crafts Movement
Arts & Crafts Movement (Art of Century)
The Arts and Crafts Movement in Europe and America: Design for the Modern World 1880-1920
Arts and Crafts Movement (World of Art)
Ladies, Whores, and Holy Women: A Sourcebook in Courtly, Religious, and Urban Cultures of Late Medieval Germany (Medieval German Texts in Bilingual Editions) (German Edition)
Medieval Germany 1056-1273
Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia (Routledge Encyclopedias of the Middle Ages)
Fairy Tales from the German Forests
German Fairy Tales
German folk and fairy tales (Folk and fairy tales from many lands)
Where Magic Reigns; German Fairy Tales Since Grimm Retold By Gerntrude C. Schwebell
