Illustration: Bruno Goldschmitt. Fruhling und Sommer (Spring and Summer) tapestry design, c1918.
The German artist and designer Bruno Goldschmitt is probably better known for his printmaking, particularly those produced using woodcuts. However, he also produced work in a number of other genres including tapestry.
The two examples illustrating this article were produced by Goldschmitt probably either just before the outbreak of the First World War or perhaps even during the conflict, though this seems less likely due to the increasingly difficult task of requisitioning supplies for anything but the war effort, along with the fact that many artists were conscripted and in fact died on active duty. Lack of resources and artists meant that tapestry production ceased altogether for both sides during the war. However, the date 1918 has been added to each title because that is the date that they appeared in the German magazine Die Kunst und Dekoration, rather than their construction date, which is unknown.
Both were conceived as a pair as they represent firstly Fruhling und Sommer (Spring and Summer) and secondly Herbst und Winter (Autumn and Winter). Both are allegorical and rich in symbolism, and although obviously meant to summon up traditional German ideas of the seasons and the rural activities associated with those seasons, there is also a strong classically inspired theme. The giant representatives of Spring/Summer and Autumn/ Winter look very much like classically inspired gods and although the illustrations of the tapestries do not have dimensions attached to them, they are composed as if they should be large enough to hang full-length in a temple or other large public building.
Although tapestry came in many shapes and forms, there has always been a particularly rich narrative form of allegory and symbolism involved in the genre. Although often copying fine art work, particularly from the Renaissance onwards, European tapestry, often seen as a conservative craft, maintained allegorical work long after it had faded in prominence in the fine art world. Classical themes proved particularly popular and were produced in endless variations by the great French tapestry production companies in the eighteenth century. That these same companies maintained a presence in the following nineteenth century, despite the huge changes politically, socially and decoratively in Europe, says much about the connections with quality and elitism that were carefully fostered and promulgated by France and their national decorative industry.
Illustration: Bruno Goldschmitt. Herbst und Winter ( Autumn and Winter) tapestry design, c1918.
It is interesting therefore, to see an artist such as Goldschmitt stretching the boundaries of the traditional allegory to include native German associations while still framing the whole piece in an outwardly classically minded theme. The idea of allegory and symbolism took a great leap forward in the twentieth century, with Surrealism in particular having a deep impact on the tapestry industry, although interestingly much was still seen through the lens of the classical world.
The fully abstract theme has largely replaced much of the representational work produced by tapestry artists. Colour and texture are explored to great effect, although the market for original tapestry work has dwindled in recent times.
Although these two pieces of work are by no means revolutionary or representations of the avant-garde of the early twentieth century, they are still recognisable as twentieth rather than nineteenth century tapestry work. This perhaps shows how far many of the craft disciplines had come and perhaps of tapestry in particular. Tapestry had travelled a great distance creatively from the eighteenth century when many of the technical and practical parameters of the European craft had been worked out and placed on an industrial based level in many cases for the first time.
The nineteenth century saw the development of the tapestry outside of the traditions of the industry, and more particularly outside of France, with work being produced individually across a number of European nations including Germany. That this constant creative progression throughout the nineteenth century helped to produce the novelty and innovation of the twentieth century tapestry craft, seems without doubt and artists such as Goldschmitt helped to further that creative path and both these tapestries should be seen within that context.
Further reading links:
Tapestry Handbook: The Next Generation (Schiffer Books)
Tapestries: The Great Twentieth Century Modernists
Twentieth Century Aubusson Tapestries Designed by American and French Artists
Twentieth Century Tapestry, a Rare Exhibition of Tapestries from the Famous Aubussons Looms, France
LA RICHESSE DES ARTS: Twentieth Century Aubusson Tapestries and Modern Sculpture
Tapestry Weaving
Tapestry Weaving: A Comprehensive Study Guide
Masterpieces of French Tapestry: Catalogue. An Exhibition organised by the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Arts Council of Great Britain... March 29 to May 31, 1947.
French Tapestries & Textiles in the J. Paul Getty Museum
Norwegian Tapestry Weaving
Flemish Tapestry in European and American Collections (Studies in Western Tapestry)
FRENCH TAPESTRIES FROM THE FOURTEENTH TO THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES (BATSFORD COLOUR BOOKS SERIES;NO.6)
