Influential Textile Designers and Artists of the 20th Century

17.05.2018

German school of building and construction Bauhaus, by right, can be considered one of the most innovative design movement of the last century.

Founded in 1919, the "house of construction" has rightly become a haven and a step-home for all German designers, architects, designers, artists, believers in the possibility of creating a "building of the future" Gesamtkunstwerk - "a great universal work of art." It was here that revolutionary ideas arose about what architecture of the twentieth century should become in the era of steam and electricity. Here they began to consider the design under the prism of psychophysical exposure of various forms, materials and color solutions to humans. Artists and architects of the Bauhaus believed in the possibility of creating a "new happy man" with the help of mass construction, where high standards of life would be met, which would be accessible to different segments of the population. As Sigrid Wortmann Weltge writes (in Bauhaus textiles: women artists and the weaving workshop), the ‘Bauhaus weavers invented the concept of contemporary textile design.’ For three of the most influential textile designers of the 20th century – Gunta Stölzl, Anni Albers and Benita Koch‐Otte – and their Bauhaus masters – Johannes Itten, Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky – weaving and art were intertwined.


Image: Wassily Kandinsky 1923 Composition VIII

Gunta Stelzl was one of the most popular weavers in the Bauhaus. The biography of this out-of-date progressive girl is complex and fascinating. Since childhood Gunta has dreamed of leaving her mark in art, but in a world where women had no rights, it would seem that this was impossible.

She began studying at an art school, but she could not finish it. With the outbreak of the First World War, she went to the front as a nurse, rescuing herself from terrible pictures of violence and bloodshed, those short moments when she could draw on scraps of paper. After the war in 1919, Gunta went to study Bauhaus.

On arriving at the Bauhaus she was already well-studied in art, but the teachings of the Bauhaus presented her with a new way of thinking – an exploration of the wonderful qualities of different textures and fibres that could be translated into design details. During the early Bauhaus years there was great emphasis was on artistic expression and Johannes Itten, Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky inspired the weavers with instruction on composition and form, colour theories and rhythmic studies. 

Kandinsky made watercolour studies to explore the relationship between colour and form, in his work shown below "washes of colour applied in concentric rings flow into each other at their borders, transforming each other in the process" MoMA.org. 


Image: Wassily Kandinsky Color Study Sqaures with Concentric Circles

The weavers were creating individual pieces and textiles became Gunta Stölzl’s art form. She experimented with complex structures such as interrupted stripes woven on horizontal looms, and point symmetry where weave details are mirrored at diagonal opposites of the design.


Image: Gunta Stölzl, Bauhaus Dessau

Gunta Stölzl’s diaries recall how Paul Klee also had a great love of textiles and while the weavers were incredibly influenced by his use of colour, Klee’s paintings were also informed by the creations of the weaving workshop. He showed great appreciation for the craft and was particularly interested in the subtleties of colour that occur by crossing warp (length) and weft (across) yarns in woven cloth. In his own works he experimented with the effects of over-painting using washes of colour, mirroring this warp and weft effect.


Image: Paul Klee's Polyphonic Setting for White.

"Klee used the musical term of 'polyphonic' (many voiced) in titles to draw attention to the simultaneous sounds created by the various pictorial elements... of his paintings." from Paul Klee: Painting Music, 1997. 

Johannes Itenn shared this interest in textiles and had considerable influence on the weavers - not only with his instruction on materials, but also with colour. Itten believed in the scientific, spiritual and emotional qualities of colour. He, Klee and Kandinsky often used the language of music to describe colour, referring to harmonic sounds, chord variations and tones.

Benita Otte, a lesser-known weaver of the Bauhaus, experimented with Itten’s light and dark contrasts, and Klee’s colour theories. But it was Klee, especially, who would have a major and lasting influence on her work. She later adapted Klee’s theories on colour for her own teaching and offered instruction in the use of proportion, colour, form and composition, while also integrating intensive nature studies.


Image: Benita Otte Woven Wall Hanging, 1923-24.

Perhaps the most well-known of the Bauhaus weavers is Anni Albers, whose work will be the focus of a full-scale retrospective at Tate Modern later this year, from 11 October 2018 – 27 January 2019.

Alber’s first interest was in the glass workshops but being a woman this was discouraged and she was instead steered, reluctantly, towards the weaving classes. Nonetheless, with Gunta Stölzl’s guidance Albers overcame her reluctance for weave and developed a love of the construction challenges presented by weaving and showed great skill. She developed many functionally unique textiles that combined properties of light reflection, sound absorption and durability, and minimized wrinkling and warping tendencies.


Image: Example of Anni Albers' incredible work by  The Josef & Anni Albers Foundation website.

Weavers in the twentieth century used various artistic skills to perfect and paint their woven cloths. Annie Albers created a lot of ink drawings for textiles, and they were embodied in carpets, bedspreads, drapes that were put into mass production. Alberts was not afraid to experiment, and in her yarn, in addition to the strands and fibers used third-party materials, for example, wool with a combination of jute, paper and cellophane.

Gunta Stelzl was the only Bauhaus female master, however, this did not prevent her from turning the weaving industry when she moved from an experimental sketch to modern industrial designs in 1925, when Bauhaus moved to Dessau and redirected from hand-craft to machine production.

Undoubtedly, under the influence of the teachings about the color of the Bauhaus masters, she was able to improve her techniques in weaving and painting techniques, and also embodied the ideas of contemporary art in weaving. The Bauhaus weaving workshop had one of the most significant influences in the development of the modern textile industry.

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